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BUILDING 


jor 
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 





CENTRE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, WITH NEW EDUCATIONAL 
ADDITION, BRATTLEBORO, VT. PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN BY 
ARTHUR L. CLAPP, AND FURNISHED THROUGH THE COUR- 
TESY OF WALTER A. GILBERT 


BUILDING 
for 
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


BY 
Henry Edward Tralle, M.A., Th.D. 


SPECIALIST IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
AUTHOR OF ‘*PSYCHOLOGY OF LEADERSHIP,’ **DYNAMICS OF 
TEACHING,” ‘‘StORY-'ELLING LESSONS, ’ JOINT AUTHOR OF 
‘* PLANNING CHURCH BUILDINGS’’ 


AND 


George Earnest Merrill 


MEMBER OF AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS 


JOINT AUTHOR OF **?LANNING CHURCH BUILDINGS’ 





rec hN EYER YeGe: 
New York London 








- 


- Copyright, 1926, by 
Fs. Tur CENTURY Co. 


PRINTED IN U. S. A, 





DEDICATED 
to 


WILBUR LOW 


a ten-year-old boy, who, in a church congregational meeting which 
was called to consider the erection of an educational building, said, 
“The boys and girls of the Sunday school are going to ask you to- 
night if you will please help us to build a larger and better Sunday- 
school building. In publie school, we have a room for each class 
and also a gym where we can play and have lots of fun; and we 
think we ought to have these things in Sunday school. Also if we 
had more books, tables, maps and blackboards we could learn much 
more in Sunday school. When we get our new building we ean 
use it for the church vacation school and for the week-day schoo! 
of religion, as well as for the Sunday school, and that will be 
good, too.” 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
In 2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https://archive.org/details/buildingsforreli0Otral 


FOREWORD 


The authors are indebted to Professor Joseph Hudnut, of 
the School of Architecture of Columbia University, for the 
chapter on ‘‘The Church Auditorium,’ and also for his read- 
ing of the other chapters in manuscript form and for the 
making of helpful suggestions. They acknowledge indebted- 
ness also to Rev. Elbert M. Conover, Director of the Bureau 
of Architecture of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to 
Mr. A. F. Wickes, Advisory Architect of the Bureau of Archi- 
tecture of the Disciples of Christ, both of whom were kind 
enough to read the manuscript and to offer helpful suggestions. 

The following is from Dr. W. Edward Raffety, Editor of 
the International Journal of Religious Edueation, and is 
quoted from the editors’ foreword in ‘‘ Planning Chureh Build- 
ings,’’ published in 1921: ‘‘Dr. Henry E. Tralle is a pioneer 
among educators in his advocacy of the elimination of all 
movable partitions in the church building and the complete 
separation of department from departments and of class from 
classes. His discovery and demonstration of the fact that it 
is possible to have individual classrooms for a given depart- 
ment, as well as an assembly-room, with the same floor-space 
and at practically the same cost, constitutes a real contribution 
toward the solution of the building problems of churches. 
Since 1906, he has been advocating this new type of building 
with permanent, plastered partitions and single hinged doors, 


for the school of the church, in his classes in college, training 
vii 


Vill FOREWORD 

schools, institutes, assemblies and conventions, and in his writ- 
ings. As early as 1908, he helped a church to build an addi- 
tion with complete assembly-rooms and individual classrooms, 
for the junior and intermediate departments; and he has as- 
sisted many church committees, pastors, and architects to 
work out this complete-separation idea and to provide adequate 
facilities for the educational work of the church.’’ 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


if 


Il 


IIL 


IV 


PROGRESS IN CHURCH BUILDING . ... . 

The new three-unit structure—distinguishing character- 
istic of a true church—a grave-yard monologue—signifi- 
cance of changes in church building—new facilities for 
religious education—the growing child—the graded school 
—the demands of the new psychology and the new pedagogy 
—a utility that leads to beauty—art and religion belong 
together—summary of suggestions 


IB ULEDING HAGE: ROGR AQT air ii ii ii re se Vien 


Building a program before planning a building—estimat- 
ing space required—scheme of departmental organization— 
amount of floor-space required for each pupil—principles of 
grading—placing the twelve-year olds—one of the sins of 
the “main school” idea—problem of intermediates and 
seniors—determining the proportions of spaces allotted to 
departments—reasons for building for the future—planning 
for young people—suggested proportions in allotting spaces 
—results of some surveys—the practical conclusions— 
basic reason for equable distribution of spaces—exceptional 
local conditions to be considered—allocation of the various 
departmental units—summary of suggestions 





PROBLEM OF CLASSROOMS a ee Sut Nich Coteulye se ane 

Number of classrooms needed—small see desirable 
—six reasons for close grading—those discordant voices 
basic argument for separate cli more public- 
school teachers do not teach in chureh school—a common- 











to value of separate classrooms for primary department— 
value of separate classrooms for juniors—classrooms for 
intermediates and seniors—classrooms for young people— 
junior boys and girls—rooms for other grades—classrooms 
for adults—summary of suggestions 





FURNISHINGS IN ScHoon Rooms 


What every teacher needs—the four-fold requirement of 
ix 


PAGE 


12 


37 


x 


CHAPTER 


VI 


VIL 


VIII 


CONTENTS 


every teacher—insuring isolation—means of excluding 
distractions—the requirement of comfort—suitable sets, 
proper lighting and heating and ventilation, and good 
acoustics—suitable equipment—providing suitable equip- 
ment—tahles, chairs, blackboards, maps, books, pictures, 
and hand-work materials—the inviting classroom—rug or 
carpet, curtains and draperies, pictures, decorations, color 
scheme—value of pictures—importance of controlling color 
scheme—finish and furnishings of assembly-rooms—sum- 
mary of suggestions 








ING Was SUED ENG Si eB earte 


The new buildings a means of new life and service—what 
pastors say—looking ahead—reasons for confidence in our 
present ideals—possibilities of enlarging classrooms—the 
new type of building possesses a sufficient degree of “‘flexi- 
bility’—worth all the cost—wastefulness and grotesqueness 
of ‘Akron plan”’—economy a consideration—week-day re- 
ligious education as a factor—one marked result—reasons 
for increase in attendance in new building—summary of 
suggestions 





Wises) (Crenajeier syenpanonanne | 5 6 6 on kl 


The church building not medieval in type—misunder- 
standing the spirit of the medieval architectures—expres- 
sive beauty—beginning with our needs—the evangelical 
church auditorium—the principle of symmetry—the ap- 
proaches to the auditorium—the portico and the vestibule 
—pews and aisles—the lighting of the auditorium—the 
problem of galleries—suggestions regarding the chancel— 
decorative elements—the beautiful room—summary of sug- 
gestions 





Asie dioineOnhenee ISUNAE , of oo pe to Ol 


Importance of providing for recreational life—function 
and character of fellowship hall—location of this room— 
athletic provisions—providing for games—educational value 
of play—provisions for dramatizations—the stage and its 
equipment—facilities for dining—kitchen and serving room 
—various other provisions—lockers and showers—bowling 
alleys and swimming pools—recreational director’s office— 
summary of suggestions 





F2RO GED URE e ENG Wi) LN Cane enn one 


The first steps—appointment of building council—its 
composition—building committee—preliminary work of 


PAGE 


51 


6 


8 


0 


ford 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


IX 


XI 








building committee—securing expert assistance—educa- 
tional and architectural advisers—architectural bureaus— 
denominational bureaus of architecture—how special ad- 
visers help—other steps to take—report of building com- 
mittee to council and chureh—olficial aetion of chureh board 
or congregational meeting—the choosing of an architeet— 
the wrong way and the right way—the building committee 
and the architect—summary of suggestions 





FINANCING: CHURCH BUILDING 1.) 6 <0 thee os 


Money for church building easy to raise—preparation for 
campaign—contributors visualizing the new building—fif- 
teen preliminary steps—the financial program—adopting a 
financial program—seven plans for raising money—training 
the canvassers—eleven suggestions—answering objections— 
seven examples—fifteen general suggestions—the leadership 
of the pastor—summary of suggestions 














Tuirty-E1gur SUGGESTIONS We ery Cte Oe 


Architects—architecture— auditorium — basements — be- 
ginners—board room—hoiler room—business  buildings— 
cabinets—chapel—club rooms—condition of buildings— 
corridors—cradle —roll—drinking fountains—entrances 
exits—floors—foundations—foyer—juniors— kitchenettes 
leadership training room—library—oflices—organ—parking 
spaces—partitions—pastor’s study—placement—primary de- 
partment—remodeling—rooms—site—small — schools—stair- 
ways—storage—vestibules 


























ATOMS TRATTV EMEA N Supt.) selene Weegee Cuno eee, 920705 

First Presbyterian, Bloomfield, New Jersey—First Con- 
gregational, Montclair, New Jersey—First Baptist, Rich- 
mond, Virginia—Broadway M. E., Indianapolis, Ind.—First 
M. E., South, Charlottesville, Virginia—Central Baptist, 
Hartford, Connecticut—Trinity Episcopal, Columbus, Ga. 
—Methodist Episcopal, Woodside, Maryland—First Baptist, 
Columbus, Ga.—St. John’s M. E., South, Rock Hill, S. C.— 
Buncombe St. M. E., South, Greenville, S. C.—Rivermont 
Avenue Presbyterian, Lynchburg, Virginia 








Xi 


PAGE 


108 


BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 





BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS 
EDUCATION 


CHAPTER I 
PROGRESS IN CHURCH BUILDING 


HE church building of today is not a single-unit struc- 

ture, providing merely for preaching and worship, but 
a three-unit building, providing for the three-fold functioning 
of the church organization, namely, (1) for preaching and 
worship, (2) for fellowship and recreation, and (3) for re- 
ligious education, which also includes worship. To state the 
fact in another way, the church building of our day offers 
facilities for a ministry of inspiration, a ministry of recrea- 
tion, and a ministry of education, all three ministries center- 
ing in a ministry of practical service. 

Each of these three functions is sufficiently distinctive in its 
method and its emphasis to demand different, separate facili- 
ties, while at the same time each is of a piece with the other 
two in its aims and spirit. The most distinguishing character- 
istic of a true church is its educational quality. The church 
as a whole is a Christian school, and every Christian is a 
disciple, or learner, for life, learning to live and to serve. 

The chureh’s educational ministry of inspiration through 


preaching and worship requires suitable auditorium facili- 
3 


t BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


ties, the church’s ministry of recreation through social and 
play activities requires a large hall with various facilities, and 
the church’s ministry of organized education requires for its 
highly specialized functioning a church school-house with 
many rooms—the auditorium and the fellowship hall and 
the school-house all being interrelated and unified in a single 
church structure. . 

The remarkable awakening of the church to its obliga- 
tions and opportunities accounts for the fact that a large 
proportion of the four hundred million dollars expended for 
church buildings during the last five years went into facilities 
for religious education, and for a new type of school-house, 

These new educational buildings are real school-houses, with 
assembly-rooms and classrooms having permanent partitions 
and single hinged doors, and with modern educational fur- 
nishings and equipment, making it possible for the church to 
function educationally to an extent and with an effectiveness 
never before possible in all its history. 


A -GRAVEYARD MONOLOGUE 


At the intersection of two busy business streets in one of 
our large cities, there stands an attractive old Colonial church 
building with graceful spire, and with a graveyard in the rear 
and on one side. On the other side of the graveyard, there is 
now a new three-story, educational and recreational building, 
in which is housed a modern program of dynamic religious 
education and a program of supervised Christian recreation. 
It is evident that none of the old graveyard is inside the 
church, 

This educational building, as it looks across at the old 
chureh building and at the monuments between that have been 


PROGRESS IN CHURCH BUILDING 5 


erected to the memory of departed members of an organiza- 
tion with a history that reaches back nearly three centuries, 
seems to be saying: ‘‘Look at me, church ancestors, and 
know that your labors in the Lord were not in vain. Your 


Pu Dien 
a 
Nae tty 





THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH OF FLATBUSH, NEW YORK, OLD 
AUDITORIUM, GRAVEYARD, AND NEW PARISH HOUSE. ARCHI- 
TECTS, MEYER AND MATHIEU 


descendants are worthy of you. They have built for their 
day, just as you built for your day. They are seeking to 
make effective in life today the old truths of the old Book 
through new facilities and new methods, just as you in your 
day sought through new means to adapt to new conditions the 


6 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


faith and traditions of your fathers. That old building there, 
with its graceful spire and harmonious proportions, so dif- 
ferent from the one that preceded it, spoke to the whole 
community of the strength and permanence and beauty and 
aspirations of Christianity, as it does even now to your de- 
scendants; and its inner symmetry and simplicity and dignity 
evoked the heavenly places of spiritual rest and refreshment 
in God’s presence. So now, to your children’s children, I 
am bringing an added enrichment of personality. With my 
school-rooms and play-rooms and prayer-rooms, I am telling 
them that divine worship and pastoral inspiration must be 
supplemented by religious education and Christian recreation 
and group meditation if they are to live as well with God in 
this complex, industrial age as you did amid the simpler con- 
ditions of your day and generation.’’ 

One of the most encouraging things about this building is 
that it was erected by an old, conservative church, belonging 
to one of the smaller denominations; and this is only one exam- 
ple. Many others could be cited. Let nobody say, ever 
again, that churches cannot change. The answer is that 
they do change. Not all of them, of course, but enough to 
give us reason for encouragement. Others also can change, 
and many of them will change. 


SIGNIFICANCE OF CHANGES 


These changes in church building have as their basis the 
erowing conviction that the church, in this industrial and 
complex age, needs to lay hold of the social and recreational 
life of the individual and the community and to Christianize 
it, and that it must develop a program of religious education 
which can put the Christian dynamic into the whole unitary 


PROGRESS IN CHURCH BUILDING iy 


process of education, if it is to maintain its place of leader- 
ship and power, and stem the tide of crass materialism and 
pagan civilization. 

If the church is to maintain an adequate school of religious 
education, it is felt that the Sunday school, Bible school, or 
Sabbath school, must become a church school, with week-day 
sessions as well as Sunday sessions, and that this school must 
be housed as a real school, with full school equipment. 

This conviction as to the need for an enlarged school of the 
church is impatient of makeshifts, compromises, and apolo- 
gies; and demands that the chureh take its educational re- 
sponsibilities seriously and equip its. religious school 
adequately. 

Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic, therefore, of 
this revolution in church building is its insistence on properly 
designed and adequate facilities for religious instruction. 

It regards the ‘‘ Akron plan,’’ with its one large room and 
its adjacent small part-rooms, as historically important, for 
the reason that it was an aid to the old one-lesson, one-assemb_y 
Sunday school, when the school was handled for the most 
part as a single group; but holds that it is wholly unsuited 
to the needs of the modern graded, departmentalized school, 
which requires as many assembly-rooms as there are depart- 
ments and as many classrooms as there are classes. The 
cost of Akron buildings is extravagant, as compared with the 
new-type plan of building for the school of the church. 


THe GROWING CHILD 


This graded handling of the school of the church has 
erown out of the development of child psychology and of a 
vital pedagogy, which have forced us to the recognition of the 


8 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


fact that children, who are always growing in experience, are 
always changing in their interests and needs. We have 
learned that children are not little men and little women, but 
that they are growing, developing beings with their own dis- 
tinctive characteristics and unique demands, and we are seek- 
ing to grade accordingly everything in our school: the lessons, 
the worship materials, the equipment, the methods. 

Since we have discovered that the same child is not the 
same in any two stages of his development, we are seeking to 
take due account of these differences, and to make the school 
different in each of its parts, or grades, and to make it fit 
the child in every period of his development. 

Growing out of oar better understanding of the nature of 
the functioning of mind, there has developed a pedagogy that 
repudiates the ‘‘Five Formal Steps’’ and that regards teach- 
ing as a vital act, rather than a formal process, placing the 
emphasis upon the skilful impact of teacher personality up- 
on student personalities, putting character and conduct 
above mere knowledge-content, stressing worth-while pur- 
posive activity on the part of those who are taught, and 
making large use of the project principle and of student ini- 
tiative. 

Both our new psychology and our new pedagogy take the 
emphasis away from the ungraded ‘‘exrercises’’ of the large 
single group, and place it upon the graded handling of smaller 
groups in departments and classes. 

This is the essential idea which underlies the developments 
of recent church architecture. The building is taking a new 
shape, not accidentally or capriciously, but logically, inevit- 
ably, in order that it may conform to the demands of a new 
psychology. 


PROGRESS IN CHURCH BUILDING 9 


BEAUTY AND UTILITY 


This development is not inimical to beauty. On the con- 
trary, it is most likely to lead to beauty—to a beauty which 
will express our own ideals of religion just as the beauty of the 
Gothic expressed the mediaeval religion. 

Not only should it be impossible to mistake a church build- 
ing for a library, a bank, a hotel, a garage, or a public-school 
building, but this building should compel attention and com- 
mand respect. It should be characterized by dignity, simplic- 
ity and beauty, and should be wholly expressive of the high 
spiritual values of individual and community life, The prob- 
lem is not so simple a thing as the mere choice between the 
Gothie and the Colonial styles of architecture, for either may 
be made ugly and inappropriate. The problem is far more 
complex and difficult, and, for a small church as well as a 
large one, it requires expert handling. 

The principle involved in the solution of this problem is 
well stated by Professor Joseph Hudnut, of the school of 
architecture in Columbia University. He says: ‘‘I believe 
that it is our business as architects to study and to under- 
stand, first of all, the trend of Christian thought in our 
country, to learn the needs of the new church, its spirit and 
aim; and then, forgetting for the moment the churches of 
the past, we should try to work out a practical economic plan 
for a church building suited to the new conditions. After 
that, we should think of some way of making that building 
beautiful and expressive, turning for guidance and inspira- 
tion to all the great architectures of the past—just as the 
men of Amiens turned to the Byzantine manuscripts, to Roman 
ruins, to Palestine and to Syria, and to the ruder architecture 


10 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


evolved from the Teuton forests. Good taste, restraint, signi- 
ficance, are Just as possible for us as for them.”’ 

Doctor Von Ogden Vogt, discussing church building, in the 
Century Magazine, several months ago, said: ‘‘How shall 
we approach the great theme of beauty? The thirst for it 
is universal. In some form we are all touched and moved by 
it. It is truth bodied forth, it is goodness celebrated, it is 
life itself praised and enjoyed. It is the heightening of ut- 
terance; it is communication refined, intensified, and carried 
out beyond the borders of prosaic speech into the songs of 
carved stone, figured tapestry, flaming glass, moving cere- 
monial, and all other lovely forms. It most surely is not 
something detached from life or secondary, but woven into 
all that we do well or say well. 

“Art and religion belong together by certain profound 
identities of origin, subject matter, and inner experience. 
Art needs religion to universalize its perceptions and relate 
its concepts. Religion needs the arts to be impressive, to be 
enjoyable, to vivify its ancient faiths, to kindle new out- 
looks, and to quicken resolves.’’ 


SUMMARY OF SUGGESTIONS 


1. The remarkable changes in the character of church buildings 
erected during the last five years are indicative of life. 

2. The new church building of today is a three-unit structure, 
with a church auditorium, a fellowship hall, and facilities for re- 
ligious education. 

3. This new type of building has grown out of the realization 
that a church is primarily a school, and that it must function edu- 
cationally and recreationally as well as worshipfully. 

4. This enlargement of the function of the church is made im- 
perative by the complexities of the industrial age in which we live, 


PROGRESS IN CHURCH BUILDING ia 


and the consequent increase of competitions which the church must 
meet. 

5. The graded, departmentalized school of the church that is de- 
manded by the times requires for its functioning a school-house 
with assembly-rooms and classrooms of permanent-partition, single 
hinged-door construction, instead of one large room. 

6. This graded building for the housing of a graded school has 
erown out of the discovery that the child is changing in his in- 
terests and needs as he grows in size, and that therefore all our 
religious education must be graded. 

7. We have learned also that pupils learn more through self- 
expression than through the talk of the teacher, and that we must 
have rooms and equipment for supervised pupils’ activities. 

8. Both psychology and pedagogy have taken the emphasis away 
from the ungraded “exercises” of the large single group, and have 
placed it upon the graded handling of smaller groups in depart- 
ments and classes. 

9. It is a waste of money and lot-space to build one large room 
for the assembly of the whole school, and thus to duplicate in 
effect what the church already has in its auditorium. 

10. This new three-unit chureh building must be unified in a 
single whole, and must express itself beautifully and impressively. 


CHAPTER II 
BUILDING A PROGRAM 


E must begin with a program in planning the educa- 
tional portions of a church building. The basis for 
this program is the departmental organization. 

The departmental organization upon which there is general 
agreement among the leaders in religious education is as 
follows: (1) Cradle roll, about 1 to 3 years of age; (2) 
beginners, about 4 and 5 years of age; (3) primary, about 
6 to 8 years of age, public-school grades 1 to 3; (4) junior, 
about 9 to 11 years of age, public-school grades 4 to 6; (5) 
intermediate, about 12 to 14 years of age, public-school grades 
7 to 9, junior high school; (6) senior, about 15 to 17 years 
of age, public-school grades 10 to 12, senior high school; (7) 
young people, about 18 to 23 years of age; (8) adult, 24 years 
of age and older. 


ESTIMATING SPACE REQUIRED 


Determine first the departmental groupings, and estimate 
the probable number to be accommodated in each department 
in the new building; then allow fifteen square feet of floor- 
space per pupil, seven in assembly-room and eight in class- 
room. Some recommend sixteen square feet of floor-space 
for each pupil, and others fourteen, but fifteen square feet 


have been found to be a satisfactory average allowance tor 
12 


BUILDING A PROGRAM 13 


good educational work in the church school. This allowance 
does not include the floor-space required for corridors, stair- 
ways, coat-rooms, and toilets. 

These fifteen square feet of floor-space per pupil are needed 
even when there are no classrooms. No more floo-space is 
required for a given department, therefore, when there are 
classrooms, than for the assembly-room alone with no class- 
rooms, for the reason that tables for classroom work, with 
the necessary separation between class-groups for proper 
handling, require the additional eight square feet of floor- 
space per pupil, whether in the one large room or in the 
separate classrooms. 

The departmental divisions are not arbitrary, and are not to 
be accepted on the ‘‘authority’’ of any single individual, but 
are to be regarded as the evolution of the general experience 
of the leaders in religious education. 

The children of the cradle roll class think almost wholly in 
the concrete, chiefly in connection with things, and are too 
self-centered to permit of group training; and are taught in- 
formally through toys and objects. The beginners may be 
handled group fashion, and taught through games and stories 
and pictures and dramatic action. 

The primary pupils have entered the big and wonderful 
public-school world, and these may be taught a little more 
formally and systematically, with stories and dramatizations 
as prominent means. 

The juniors are in the stage of comparative non-growth, are 
exceedingly active, can now coordinate mind and muscle ef- 
fectively, and have attained an experience that makes possible 
a greater variety in educational materials and method. 

The intermediates are passing through the most rapid and 
profound physical and mental changes of a lifetime, and they 


oe 


14 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


demand distinctive educational materials and handling. 

The seniors are rapidly developing into adulthood, and the 
whole life is strongly colored by the sex impulse. Their 
religious education must be distinctive. 

The young people are markedly differentiated from the 
seniors on the one hand and the adults on the other, in in- 
terests and needs, and require separate, distinctive handling. 

In addition to these basic genetic differences, there needs 
to be considered the fact of gradual growth in experience in 
pupils, and the consequent enlargement in the scope of the 
curriculum and the changes in management and method. In 
connection with both these considerations, there is the fact that 
a period of about three years includes as wide a range of in- 
terests and needs, in childhood and youth, as can be covered 
to advantage in a single departmental group. Pupils with 
kindred interests and needs cooperate better in study and in 
group activities. 

Of course, the grading should not be based on the chrono- 
logical ages alone. The age of students should be reckoned 
(1) chronologically, by years, (2) physiologically, by size, 
(3) psychologically, by intelligence, (4) pedagogically, by 
education, and (5) sociologically, by grouping. The whole 
matter of grading for the church-school worker is simplified 
if the public-school gradings are accepted and followed, with 
provision in special classes for exceptional children. 


THE TWELVE-YEAR-OLDS 


One problem in grading needs special consideration: the 
problem of the twelve-year-olds. These were placed in the 
junior department in former years, but are now placed in the 
intermediate department. 


BUILDING A PROGRAM 15 


In a school that has not yet adopted the newer gradings, 
and that still keeps the twelve-year-olds in the Junior depart- 
ment, there needs to be a courageous facing of the whole 
grading situation before there can be any intelligent plan- 
ning for a new building, else the school may later find itself 
short one departmental room. The elimination of one depart- 
mental room, through having four grades in the junior de- 
partment and four grades in the intermediate department, does 
not decrease the size of the building required, since the same 
number of pupils must be planned for in any event, allowing 
fifteen square feet of floor-space for each individual. 

The placing of the twelve-year-olds in the intermediate de- 
partment, rather than in the junior department, is steadily 
gaining in favor in the thinking of the leaders and is becom- 
ing more general in practice, despite the well-known disin- 
clination of adults to effect changes of any kind, for the 
reason that it has been found that better educational results 
are thus obtained. 

The twelve-year-olds are entering the adolescent period, 
and they need a different organization, with different orders 
of worship and different methods of handling. Their dawn- 
ing sense of manhood or womanhood and a growing feeling of 
independence tend to make them restless and increasingly 
difficult to control in the junior department, and they feel 
more at home with the older pupils, and do better work there. 
This has been found to be true in public-school work, and has 
given rise to the new grading there, with the 7th, 8th and 
9th grades in the ‘‘junior high school’? and the 10th, 11th 
and 12th grades in the ‘‘senior high school.’’ 

Perhaps one reason why some Sunday schools have kept 
the twelve-year-olds in the junior department is that there 
has been no intermediate department in these schools, with 


16 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


its separate departmental meeting and training, for them to 
enter, and it was a choice between keeping them in the junior 
department or allowing them to be lost among the adults, 
in that anachronism known as the ‘‘main school,’’ And the 
schools have lazily chosen the lesser evil. There is a third 
and better choice, and that is to make proper provision for 
them. In a new educational building, the provision for the 
intermediates will be just as adequate as that for the juniors, 
and the embarrassing dilemma will no longer exist. 

We have been talking about the ‘‘problem’’ of the inter- 
mediates and seniors as if there were something peculiarly 
wrong with them, but now we are discovering that it is the 
adults who have been in the wrong, in failing to meet their 
religious needs. These young people are not essentially worse 
now than they were when they were younger, but they 
are different, very different; and they need different 
organization, different equipment, different class lessons, 
different worship programs, different handling. If they 
have left the Sunday school, it was because they were 
not getting anything there. The records show that we 
have been allowing two-thirds of our pupils to get away 
from us, besides failing to reach two-thirds of our constituency 
at all, and that the big ‘‘leak’’ is in the intermediate de- 
partment. We can stop the leak if we will. 


DETERMINING THE PROPORTIONS 


In building an educational program with a view to plan- 
ning a new building, and in apportioning spaces to the various 
departments, it is advisable to take into consideration the 
present proportions and prospects in the light of general 
experience. It might not be wise to build in accordance 


BUILDING A PROGRAM Ly 


with the present proportions in a given school, as these can 
be changed with improved facilities. 

The attendance in the intermediate department may be 
small now, as compared with that in the junior department, 
but this may be due to inferior facilities and less effective 
handling, as has just been shown. In several schools with 
which the writers are acquainted, the intermediate attendance 
has passed the junior attendance, with improved facilities 
and more adequate handling in a new building. 

In a given school, the attendance of seniors may be small 
because there are not suitable departmental provisions for 
them. The attendance of young people may be small be- 
cause they are overshadowed or neglected by the adults. 
There is no adequate provision for them. They need an 
assembly-room and classrooms of their own. At about the 
beginning of the eighteenth year, quite a distinct change in 
interests becomes evident. These pupils are in college, or 
they are working for a living. They are more independent 
and purposeful in their thinking. They are concerned about 
their careers. They are more interested in marriage and 
home-making. On the other hand, their interests are different 
from those of adults. They are frequently better educated 
than the adults, they will participate more in the departmental 
and class activities, and they need the training that can come 
only through the sharing of responsibility and the sensing of 
practical achievement that they are not likely to get when 
grouped with adults. 

Whatever the final apportioning of floor-space in the new 
building, the conclusion should be reached intelligently. In 
so far as the general experience can be summarized, the 
authors cannot do better than to repeat here what they said, 
five years ago, in ‘‘Planning Church Buildings,’’ as follows: 


18 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


‘‘On the basis of a number of studies and of careful es- 
timates, the following proportions are suggested as a prac- 
tical working basis in planning a school building for the 
average church: (1) Cradle roll and beginners’ depart- 


pe 


baie 





BEGINNERS’ ROOM, WASHINGTON ST. M. E. CHURCH, PETERSBURG, 
VIRGINIA 


ments, 10%; (2) primary department, 10%; (3) junior de- 
partment, 10%; (4) intermediate department, 10%; (5) 
senior department, 10%; (6) young people’s department, 
20%; (7) adult department, 30%.’’ 


Thus, for a school of six hundred, provision should be made 


BUILDING A PROGRAM ily. 


approximately as follows: Cradle roll and beginners’ de- 
partments, 60; primary department, 60; junior department, 
60; intermediate department, 60; senior department, 60; 
young people’s department, 120; adult department, 180. 
For a school of three hundred, these numbers would be cut 
in half; and they would be doubled for a school of twelve 
hundred. 

A number of surveys have been made to ascertain the pro- 
portions prevailing previous to the erection of the new type 
of building, Rev. Elbert M. Conover, Director, Bureau of 
Architecture of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in his 
‘Progressive Suggestions for Planning Church Buildings,’’ 
gives the result of a survey of conditions in a number of 
Sunday schools, as follows: Beginners, 10% ; primaries, 12% ; 
juniors, 14% ; intermediates, 12% ; seniors, 10% ; young people, 
12%, adults, 30%. 

Mr. H. M. King, Architect-Seeretary, Architectural De- 
partment of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, gives the 
following proportions as an average basis in planning for a 
school of nine hundred: Cradle roll, 45, or 5%; beginners, 
72, or 8%; primaries, 90, or 10%; juniors, 90, or 10%; inter- 
mediates, 90, or 10%; seniors, 90, or 10%; young people, 
180, or 20%; adults, 243, or 27%. 

Mr. Emery B. Jackson, Associate Architect-Secretary, De- 
partment of Architecture, The American Baptist Home Mis- 
sion Society, in a survey of 217 Sunday schools, covering the 
last six years, finds the proportions before the erection of 
new buildings to be as follows: Beginners, 10.5%; primary, 
13% ; junior, 14.5% ; intermediate, 12.5% ; senior, 9.5% ; young 
people’s, 13%; adult, 27%. Mr, Jackson’s survey reveals 
that the more recent figures that have come into that office 
‘“show an increase in the intermediate enrolment.’’ He says 


20 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


also: ‘‘The Indiana Survey, Vol. I, pages 203, 286, 289, 
291 and 293, gives concrete evidence of the slight variation 
between the enrolment of the primary, junior and _ inter- 
mediate departments. The figures given in this survey go 
only to the twenty-fifth year, and show the following pro- 
portions: Beginners, 11.93%; primary, 19.54%; junior, 
23.14%; intermediate, 22.10%; senior, 13.51%; young peo- 
ple’s; 9.27%. This Survey shows the following interesting 
facts: (1) The enrolment of church-school pupils reaches the 
highest point at 1214 years of age, which brings it into the in- 
termediate department. (2) In the rural school, the maxi- 
mum enrolment for girls is at the age of 14 years. (3) The 
charts of age distribution show that the enrolment of juniors 
is 1% greater than that of the intermediates, and 214% 
greater than that of the pupils of primary age. (4) In the 
rural schools, the enrolment of the intermediates exceeds that 
of the juniors by 1%, and there is less than 114% difference 
between children of the junior and primary ages. (5) The 
above percentage differences would be reduced if the adult 
department were included in the charts.”’ 


BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE 


The general conclusion to be drawn from these and other 
surveys, combined with the authors” own observations and 
study of the question, is that there are material differences 
in size among the departments in most schools, but that, 
in planning a new building, practically equal amounts of 
floor-space should be allotted to the primary, junior, inter- 
mediate, and senior departments, and an equal amount also 
to the cradle roll class and beginners’ department, considered 
together, with a double amount to the young people’s de- 


BUILDING A PROGRAM 21 


partment, and three times the amount to adults, unless there 
are exceptional local conditions that make these proportions 
normally impossible after proper facilities are provided. 

In other words, tt is wiser to build for the school of the 
future than for the school of the present. This has been 
demonstrated over and over again. It is not safe to take 
the present proportions in any local school as the sole guide, 
unless they are normal. These proportions should be con- 
sidered, but always in the light of the general experience, 
Three years are covered in the cradle roll class and begin- 
ners’ department. Hold these pupils, and you have the same 
number in the primary department, which also covers three 
years. Hold these, and you have the same number in the 
junior department, which also covers three years. Hold 
these, and you have the same number in the intermediate 
department, which also covers three years. Hold these, and 
you have the same number in the senior department, which 
also covers three years. Hold these, and you have twice as 
many in the young people’s department, which covers six 
years. This number ought to be increased by at least fifty 
per cent in the adult department, which covers all the rest 
of the years, 

But this is ideal, some one may say. It is. And the best 
way to reach an ideal is to have one. It is not an impossible 
ideal in any normal situation, as has been abundantly de- 
monstrated. 

It is the part of wisdom, of course, to take account of 
exceptional local conditions, as has already been said. One 
ehureh that is now building a fine educational structure is 
making extra allowance of floor-space for the intermediate 
department, for the reason that the school draws regularly 
from a near-by institution a number of pupils of intermediate 


22 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


ages. Another church, in its new building, has allotted five 
times as much floor-space to the young people’s department 
as to any other, because it is in a university community. 

In some of the larger schools, there has been developed a 
new additional department, called the ‘‘junior adult’’ de- 
partment, composed of adults about twenty-four to thirty- 
five years of age, and such department should have its own 
assembly-room and classrooms. 

In building for a school of three thousand, with three hun- 
dred pupils in a single department, it will be advisable to 
provide space in the assembly-room for only one-third of the 
whole departmental number, the first grade pupils using 
the room during the first part of the school session, the 
second grade pupils using it during the middle part, and the 
third grade pupils using it during the last part. Such ar- 
rangement makes possible closely graded worship training, 
permits the one superintendent to conduct the three worship 
programs, and saves money in construction. Any confusion 
incident to such an arrangement can be avoided by a proper 
placing of rooms and by intelligent management. 

In a few schools, there is one assembly-room for three de- 
partments, but such arrangement is not to be recommended 
except under pressure of extreme economy, when classrooms 
ean be secured through such saving, and in no cther way; 
because the one room for three departments, covering nine 
erades, cannot be suitably furnished for any one department, 
and because it militates against departmental spirit and 
solidarity and efficiency. 

In the allocation of the various departmental units, it is 
advisable usually to place the eradle roll, beginners, and 
primary departments, and the classes of older adults, on the 
main floor. The juniors, intermediates, seniors, young people, 


BUILDING A PROGRAM 23 


and younger adults may be on the second floor, and rarely on 
the third floor, If any part of the school must be in a 
basement, let it be an adult class. 


SUMMARY OF SUGGESTIONS 


1. Fifteen square feet is the average allowance of floor-space 
that is necessary for each pupil in the church school, in order to 
make possible satisfactory educational results. Extra allowance of 
floor-space will be required for corridors, coat-rooms, stairways, 
toilets, and other facilities. 

2. The generally accepted outline of organization for the school 
of the church is as follows: (1) Cradle roll, about 1 to 3 years 
of age; (2) beginners, about 4 and 5 years of age; (3) primary, 
about 6 to 8 years of age, public-school grades 1 to 3; (4) junior, 
about 9 to 11 years of age, public-school grades 4 to 6; (5) inter- 
mediate, about 12 to 14 years of age, public-school grades 7 to 
9, junior high school; (6) senior, about 15 to 17 years of age, 
publ-e-school grades 10 to 12, senior high school; (7) young people, 
about 18 to 23 years of age; (8) adult, 24 years of age and older. 

3. Psychology and the best experience have placed the twelve- 
year-olds in the intermediate department, instead of in the junior 
department. 

4. In apportioning floor-space to the several departments, the 
following proportions will serve as a practical working basis for 
the average church: (1) Cradle roll and beginners’ departments, 
10 %; (2) primary department, 10 %; (3) junior department, 10 %; 
(4) intermediate department, 10%; (5) senior department, 10 %; 
(6) young people’s department, 20 %; (7) adult department, 30 %. 

5. In an average school of three hundred, provision will need 
to be made for 30 in the cradle roll and beginners’ departments, 
30 in the primary department, 30 in the junior department, 30 in 
the intermediate department, 30 in the senior department, 60 in 
the young people’s department, and 90 in the adult department. 


24 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


6. In an average school of 600, the figures will be 60 for the 
cradle roll and beginners’ departments, 60 for the primary de- 
partment, and so on in proportion. 

7. In an average school of 1,200, the figures will be 120 for the 
cradle roll and beginners’ departments, 120 for the primary de- 
partment, and so on in proportion. 

8. In any growing community, allowance should be made for an 
increase in chureh-school attendance of from 25 to 100 %. 

9. In determining the size of the new edueational building, a 
careful study should be made of local conditions and prospects and 
possibilities. 

10. In the allocation of the various departmental units, it is 
advisable usually to place the cradle roll, beginners, and primary 
departments, and the ciasses of older adults, on the main floor. 
The juniors, intermediates, seniors, young people, and younger 
adults may be on the second floor, and rarely on the third floor. 


CHAPTER III 
PROBLEM OF CLASSROOMS 


FTER the size of the school to be accommodated in the 

school portions of the chureh building has been de- 
termined, with the various departmental proportions, the 
next important consideration is that of classrooms. How 
many classrooms are needed? How large will they need to 
be? 


SMALL CLASSROOMS DESIRABLE 


There are some who, even for a school with six hundred 
pupils, advocate a handling that is exclusively departmental, 
with one large class in a department, but such practice is 
seriously questioned by most leaders. They cannot believe 
that the best results are obtainable in religious education 
when the class has in it from fifty to seventy-five pupils ecov- 
ering three grades. 

Some of the arguments for the closer grading and the 
smaller classes are the following: 

(1) The utilizing of the project principle, considered so 
important in religious education today, in story-telling by 
the pupils, in class dramatization, in the making of posters 
and serap-books, and in various other purposive pupil ac- 
tivities, is almost impossible in the one large group. 

(2) The rationalized, motivated, vital handling of memory 


work is more practicable in the smaller groups. 
25 


26 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


(3) The closer, more potent impact of teacher personality 
upon pupil personalities that is possible in the smaller groups 
is of significant importance, 

(4) The helpful week-day contacts of the Sunday-school 
teacher with pupils are more feasible and helpful when the 
class is small. 

(5) Since teaching is the best method of learning, and since 
teachers are as much helped in teaching as the pupils are in 
being taught, the larger number of teachers is an enlarge- 
ment of the scope and power of the school. 

(6) The small classes give the pupils the benefit of two 
types of teaching instead of the one that is received when they 
are taught only in the larger group, for they receive the 
socialized training in worship in the departmental group, 
and the more intensive intellectual and emotional training 
in the smaller class group. 


THOSE DISCORDANT VOICES 


Whatever the conclusion as to the size of the classes, the 
basic requirement is that every class, whether large or small, 
should have for itself the complete separation from other 
groups that is possible only in a room with permanent par- 
titions and a single hinged door. Why? Psychology gives 
us the answer. When the class is one of a number of classes 
in the one large room, there are a thousand sound and sight 
voices clamoring for attention and banging on the pupils’ 
ear-doors and eye-doors and skin-doors, and saying, ‘‘ Here! 
Let me in. Don’t give attention to your teacher. Give at- 
tention to us; give attention to us; give attention to us.’’ And 
they do. How ean they help it? 

The writer said to a college teacher, ‘‘Do you teach a class 


PROBLEM OF CLASSROOMS 27 











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MAIN FLOOR PLAN OF NEW EDUCATIONAL BUILDING OF ELM PARK M. E. 


CHURCH, SCRANTON, PA., SHOWING CLASSROOMS FOR PRIMARY 


DEPARTMENT 


He said, ‘‘No, I do not; I wish 


in the Sunday school?’’ 
The nervous 


I eould. I tried it, but could not stand it. 
strain involved in the effort to compete with the multiplicity 


28 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


of noises from other classes in the same large room was 
too much for me. It exhausted me and unfitted me for my 
teaching in the college between Sundays.’’ 

Let us give to our churech-school teachers real classrooms 
in which to teach, and we shall not only improve immeasur- 
ably the teaching of our present teachers, but we shall at- 
tract to our teaching staffs in increasing numbers the most 
Godly and most efficient of the public-school teachers, with 
their splendid psychological and pedagogical training and 
their rich experience in teaching. 

Here is the principle involved: Any sight or sound that 
emanates from any other group than the one with which the 
church-school teacher is dealing is 1n the nature of a dis- 
traction and competition, and it is simple common sense and 
good Christianity to get rid of such distraction and compe- 
tition; and this can be done by providing a separate class- 
room for every teacher. 


PRIMARY WorRKERS NEED Rooms 


It has been a source of surprise to the writers to find that 
there are some elementary workers, here and there, who are 
opposed to classrooms for primary pupils. One elementary 
worker, who holds an official position with a denominational 
board, and who opposes classrooms for the primary depart- 
ment, says that ‘‘the brevity of the class period and its little 
importance as compared with the departmental service makes 
classrooms unnecessary,’’ and that ‘‘it is better, as the de- 
partment grows, to add classes rather than to let classes in- 
crease in size, as is necessary when there is a fixed number 
of rooms.”’ 

As to the second of these two objections to primary class- 


PROBLEM OF CLASSROOMS 29 


rooms, three things may be said. In the first place, there 
should be a sufficient number of classrooms in the new build- 
ing to allow for growth and the addition of new classes. In 
the second place, if such growth was not anticipated, and 
there are no classrooms for additional classes, these can meet 
in the assembly-room, without depriving the other classes 
of their classrooms. In the third place, classes could be en- 
larged without serious consequences in case of emergency. 
A teacher could handle twelve or fifteen pupils in a class- 
room eight by ten feet, intended to accommodate ten pupils, 
and to better advantage than she could handle five pupils 
in the large room where there are other classes. 

As to the first objection raised, the length of the class 
period may well be extended where classrooms are provided, 
and the comparative importance of the classroom work may 
be increased. The surest way to keep the class work from 
becoming more important is to compel the teachers to teach 
in the midst of the confusion that prevails when all the 
classes are in the one large room. 

More and more, primary workers are coming to the position 
of Miss Mildred O. Moody, Director of Elementary Work, 
Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who, 
in her article on ‘‘Churech School Equipment for the Primary 
Department,’’ in the International Journal of Religious Ed- 
ucation for March, 1926, says: ‘‘In our church school we 
have periods of study and recitation in which the great truths 
are made living in the life of the child. To accomplish this, 
impression is necessary, and impression walks hand in hand 
with attention. This primary boy or girl is or is not at- 
tentive according as we work with or contrary to his na- 
ture. We know that it is his nature to have senses keenly 
alert to every new sight, every new sound. We know that 


30 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


it is his nature to be easily disturbed and distracted, easily 
diverted from the attention already caught. To work with 
this nature means that everything his eye sees and what- 
ever his ears hear during study and recitation periods will 
bear upon the problem in hand, and shall tend to further 
the impression of the one truth. It means that he will be 
safeguarded from distraction and disturbance and _ inter- 
ruptions. How? Separate classrooms. This is the only 
permanent answer to the question. Separate classrooms 
alone can make it possible for the instructor to work with 
the nature of his pupil.’’ 

Dr. Charles F. Boss, Jr., Superintendent, Division of Lo- 
eal Church School Administration, of the same board, says: 
‘Tt is our policy to recommend both departmental rooms and 
separate classrooms for the primary and junior departments, 
as well as for the departments for the age groups above 
these.’ 

The authors have interviewed a number of primary super- 
intendents and teachers who have been working where there 
are classrooms for the primary pupils, and they have cor- 
responded with others; and, without exception, these workers 
favor classrooms, enthusiastically. 

Miss Martha Meissner, superintendent of the primary de- 
partment in the Lafayette Avenue Baptist Church, Buffalo, 
New York, had about three years’ experience in primary 
work without classrooms, and has had three years’ experience 
with classrooms. She says: ‘‘Classrooms for primary pu- 
pils are decidedly advisable, because the pupils can then 
give undivided attention to their lessons, without interrup- 
tion, and the teacher also can give her attention more fully 
to the class,’’ 


PROBLEM OF CLASSROOMS 31 


Mrs. C. L. Humphries, superintendent of the primary de- 
partment in St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
Rock Hill, South Carolina, where a modern educational build- 
ing has been in use about two years, says: ‘‘ We are enthu- 
siastie about our primary classrooms. We‘think that we are 
doing incomparably better work with these rooms than we did 
in the old church without classrooms.’’ 

Mrs. C. C. Broaddus, superintendent of the primary de- 
partment in the Barton Heights Baptist Church, Richmond, 
Virginia, where a new-type educational building was erected 
four years ago, says: ‘‘Our separate classrooms are a won- 
derful help in the work of our department. The childrens’ 
minds are more readily and fully concentrated on their 
classroom work, and the teachers get far better results 
with them than were possible under the old noisy condi- 
tions.”’ 

Mr. W. Hobart Hill, Director of Religious Education in 
the Baptist Temple Chureh, Charleston, West Virginia, where 
they have a large new building, in use for about a year, 
says: ‘‘Our primary superintendent is most emphatic in 
her statement as to the value of classrooms for her group. 
After a number of years in the old building without class- 
rooms for any primary group, she speaks now from experi- 
ence both with and without classrooms. Classrooms elimi- 
nate the many disturbances from being together in one room, 
enabling the children to concentrate more completely upon 
the work in hand. We have been able to have larger classes, 
and with better results, than in the old building. We find 
classrooms to be of even more value for the juniors, because 
of written work which they do around the tables. For both 
primary pupils and juniors, the classroom makes possible the 


32 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


use of the blackboard, better concentration upon the lesson, 
and the development of a helpful class spirit.’’ 


JUNIOR Boys AND GIRLS 


It would seem that any one at all acquainted with a prac- 
tical genetic psychology ought to know that there are more rea- 
sons for separate classrooms in the junior department than in 
any other department, for the reason that juniors are es- 
pecially active, lteral, matter-of-fact, observant. They are 
more readily subject to distractions from other groups than 
are any other pupils in the school. 

But there are a few junior workers, here and there, who 
still object to junior classrooms, on two grounds, namely, that 
they complicate the problem of discipline, and that they neces- 
sitate a break between the worship period and the classroom 
period. Actual experience with classrooms has demonstrated 
that these objections are not well founded. Classrooms in- 
variably effect a decided improvement in the order and at- 
tention, for the reason that the chief temptations to disorder 
and inattention have been removed. The shifting of classes 
from assembly-room to classrooms, between the worship period 
and the class period, is a material advantage, in that the 
change serves as a rest and as a preparation for the work 
of the second period. Any undesirable effects resulting from 
the changing from one room to another must be due to in- 
efficiency in handling, and not to the fact of shifting. 

Miss Camilla Dickerson, a teacher in the John Marshall 
High School and superintendent for ten years of the junior 
department in the Barton Heights Baptist Church, Rich- 
mond, Virginia, says, after four years’ experience with 
junior classrooms: ‘‘(1) The question of discipline is greatly 


PROBLEM OF CLASSROOMS 33 


minimized in that (a) owing to the smaller audience the de- 
sire of the average junior to show off receives much less 
encouragement, (b) all outside attractions and distractions 
are cut off when the classroom door closes, (¢) if a pupil 
needs reproof the matter is known to his classmates only 
and not to the entire school. (2) It is possible for the 
teacher to use blackboard, wall-maps, wall-pictures and other 
devices for securing and holding attention which could not 
be handled in open elass spaces. (3) Pride in the appear- 
ance of these classrooms can be aroused in pupils. (4) Wall- 
space for the display of pupils’ hand-work tends to en- 
courage them to do their best in this. (5) Contests, Bible 
drills, ete., more nearly suitable to the age of the pupils can 
be conducted in the classroom than could be held in the 
open school. (6) Juniors are active, and the moving from 
the assembly-room to the classroom, and the return, give 
opportunity for satisfying the desire for motion.’’ 

Mrs. R. P. Marsh, who has had experience with the juniors, 
both with and without classrooms, in the Lafayette Avenue 
Baptist Church, Buffalo, New York, says: ‘‘I am very much 
in favor of classrooms for junior pupils. In my department, 
we have five classrooms, and then we have three classes in the 
assembly-room besides. It would be very much better if 
we had a classroom for each class. The teacher and her class 
in the classroom are free from the interruptions and dis- 
tractions to which the classes in the assembly-room are sub- 
jected, and she has better order and attention, and can deal 
more intimately with her pupils.’’ 

Miss Ida Budd Bynum, superintendent of the junior de- 
partment in the St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, Rock Hill, South Carolina, says: ‘‘ With our new 
classrooms, the juniors are more interested in their work, the 


34 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


order and attention are better, the attendance is larger, 
and the department is handled more effectively in every 
way.”’ 


Rooms For OTHER GRADES 


The desirability of separate classrooms for all classes in the 
intermediate, senior, young people’s, and adult departments 
has not been seriously questioned, so far as the authors know, 
during the last five or six years. 

There is a considerable division of opinion concerning the 
value of large adult classes. Some hold that an adult class 
should be limited to forty or fifty, while others believe that 
the large class, with a thousand or more, is advisable. 
Usually, a large adult class is built up around a strong per- 
sonality, the teacher or the president, and it has in it tre- 
mendous possibilities for extending the influence cf the church 
and religious education and Christianity. 

On the other hand, in the average church, it is likely that 
better educational results with adults may be obtained in 
smaller classes. So, in even a small school, there will be 
needed at least two classrooms for adults, one for men and 
the other for women; or, better, one for the younger adults 
and the other for the older adults. In a school of five to 
seven hundred, there ought to be at least four classrooms 
for adults. In a few of our larger buildings that are now 
being planned, there are from fifteen to twenty classrooms 
for adults. 

Usually, the largest of the adult classrooms will be utilized 
for teaching, for prayer- 





for as many purposes as possible 
meetings, for missionary meetings, for socials, for lectures. 
Sometimes, this large adult classroom is known as a “‘ladies’ 


PROBLEM OF CLASSROOMS 39 


parlor,’? and is conveniently located and attractively fur- 
nished. In a large ensemble, a secondary auditorium or 
chapel, for the smaller church assemblies, is decidedly de- 
sirable; and this may be used by a large adult class or as 
an assembly-room for the seniors or intermediates, and for 
various young people’s meetings. 

In most cases, the adult class will prefer to have its own 
service of worship in its classroom, and it is not necessary, 
usually, to provide an assembly-room for adults. 


SUMMARY OF SUGGESTIONS 


1. Every class in the school of the church should have its own 
separate classroom of permanent-partition, single linged-door con- 
struction, with no door between this and any other classroom. 

2. Small closely graded classes are preferable to large loosely 
graded classes. 

3. Every class, whether large or small, needs to be completely 
separated from other groups, in order that it may be protected 
from distracting sights and sounds. 

4. Many trained teachers refuse to teach in the school of the 
church because they are not willing to undergo the strain to which 
they are subjected where a number of classes meet in a single large 
room. 

5. The best experience of the most successful primary workers 
is making it increasingly evident that work with primary pupils is 
decidedly more satisfactory when classrooms are provided for these 
pupils. 

6. Primary superintendents and teachers who have been working 
where classrooms are provided for these grades are enthusiastically 
in favor of classrooms. 

7. Classrooms for juniors make possible better order, more com- 
plete and sustained attention, the use of blackboard and other 
educational apparatus, and the development of a helpful class spirit. 


36 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


8. Every intermediate, senior, young people’s, and adult class 
is entitled to a separate room for its work. 

9, The largest adult classroom may be utilized also for prayer- 
meetings, missionary meetings, socials, lectures, and various other 
purposes. 

10. In a large ensemble, a secondary auditorium, or chapel, for 
the smaller church assemblies, is desirable; and this may be used 
by a large adult class or as an assembly-room for the seniors or 
intermediates and for various young people’s meetings. 


CHAPTER IV 


FURNISHINGS IN SCHOOL ROOMS 


T is not enough that the church-school teacher has a 

room in which to teach; he needs a room that is appro- 
priately finished and furnished. He is entitled to a room in 
which he can do his best teaching. 


WuHat Every TEACHER NEEDS 


His requirement is four-fold. He needs isolation, comfort, 
equipment, and beauty. In order to have isolation, he must 
have his own separate classroom, such as has already been 
deseribed, with sound-proof floor construction separating it 
from any other room above or below, and windows with 
white cathedral glass or some other kind of obscured white 
glass that shuts out the distracting sights of the out-of- 
doors. . 

In the school-room, the whole world for the time being 
consists of the class and the teacher and their cooperative ed- 
ucational activities, and all outside sights need to be excluded 
in order to make possible the best results. 

A service box, placed in the wall of the classroom, will pro- 
tect the class from disturbance by the secretary and treasurer, 
This should be a receptacle the thickness of the wall and 
about twelve by sixteen inches, with inside door with latch 


for the class secretary, and a door with latch on the cor- 
37 


388 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


ridor or assembly-room side, for the use of the departmental 
secretary and treasurer, the center of the box being about four 
and a half feet from the floor. 

The class will be saved from many interruptions if there 
is a small visualization, clear-glass pane in the classroom 
door. This should be about four and a half feet above the 
floor. Such provision will allow the superintendent and vis- 
itors to observe the class without distracting the attention of 
the pupils. 

A rug or a carpet on the floor will eliminate innumerable 
disturbing noises. Some recommend linoleum on the floor 
of the classroom, but linoleum is objectionable on esthetic 
grounds. It lessens the noises, but it is unattractive in ap- 
pearance, and suggests the institution rather than a home. 
If it is not possible to have a rug or earpet, then there should 
be rubber tips on the chair legs. 


THE REQUIREMENT OF COMFORT 


The second requirement of the teacher and his class is that 
they be comfortable and at ease, and this requirement in- 
volves suitable seats, proper lighting and heating and ven- 
tilation, and good acousties. 

The seats should be adapted in size and design to the pupils 
using them. For the cradle roll pupils, they should be eight 
and ten inches in height; for the beginners, ten and twelve 
inches; for the primary pupils, twelve and fourteen inches; 
for the juniors, fourteen and sixteen inches; for the inter- 
mediates and others, seventeen and eighteen inches. Fold- 
ing chairs should not be used either in the classroom or in 
the assembly-room, for the reason that they are noisy and 
unsightly, as well as uncomfortable. Folding chairs may 


FURNISHINGS IN SCHOOL ROOMS 39 


be used in the fellowship hall, where they need to be moved 
about frequently, and sometimes put out of sight, if it is 
absolutely necessary, but they are undesirable even there. It 
is never advisable to have chairs fastened together, as they 
are then difficult to handle, and they develop in the pupils 
a sense of restriction. 

Where a class table is used, it should be of convenient 
height, and either round or rectangular, preferably 
rectangular. Cut-out tables, advocated by some, are not 
to be recommended. One type of cut-out table brings 
at least two members of the class outside of the range 
of vision of the teacher. Another type removes the pu- 
pils to too great a distance from the teacher for the 
best work. All types of cut-out tables are unsightly. If 
the class is large and the teacher needs to get up from 
her chair in order to assist them with their handwork, this 
can be better done, and with less interference with the work 
of the pupils, when a rectangular table is used. In the short 
time during which the average church-school class is in ses- 
sion, the teacher can give to the pupils such assistance as 
they need without leaving her chair, particularly since the 
average class is small. 

In a small classroom, about eight by ten feet, for the ac- 
commodation of ten pupils, it is advisable to use a rectangular 
table two feet wide and six feet long, about twenty-four inches 
in height for primary pupils, and twenty-six inches for 
junior pupils, 

Desk-chairs, with arm for writing, substantial and com- 
fortable, are to be recommended for use in departments above 
the intermediate department. 

The lighting of the room is of prime importance, because 
eye-strain will result either from insufficient light or from 


40 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


glares. Pupils should not be allowed to sit facing a window. 
Windows should be provided with adjustable shades, pre- 
ferably of light buff or ecru or tan tint, and slightly trans- 
lucent, as these cut down the direct sunlight and diffuse 
the light passing through them. Where clear glass is 
used, all window shades should be of the same color, for 
the sake of attractive appearance from the outside. 

The ceiling and walls demand intelligent treatment. John 
J. Donovan, in ‘‘School Architecture,’’ says: ‘‘The ceiling 
and wall surfaces are secondary sources of light, receiving 
and reflecting lght, and therefore should be as hght as is 
artistically permissible, white or tint of a light cream order, 
with flat or mat finish, as glossy surface gives glare. The 
lower part of the side walls, below the chair-back height, 
is of less importance, and for appearance it may be desirable 
to have a dado of some darker neutral color, as finger- 
marks and other disfigurements are not then so noticeable.’’ 

Intelligent attention should be given to the heating and 
ventilation of the school-room. Heating by steam of the va- 
por system is regarded as most satisfactory. Forced ventila- 
tion is not thought to be advisable in a chureh-school build- 
ing, in the average small structure. It is better to depend 
on natural ventilation. Windows on one side of a room 
are not sufficient. In addition to the windows, there should 
be an air register in wall or ceiling or a transom over the 
door which opens into the assembly-room or corridor. This 
transom may be of obscured glass or of wood panel, should 
be adjustable, and, if of wood, should be of the same color 
as the door. Pupils should be protected from window drafts 
by sloping glass shields at bottom of lower sash, or by some 
type of window with adjustable ventilating device. 

Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the importance 


FURNISHINGS IN SCHOOL ROOMS 41 


of good acoustics in the school-room, whatever its size. Re- 
ligious edueation is seriously endangered by our modern type 
of construction, with its steel laths and its hard plaster, and 
with its cement floors, all of which reflect sound waves in- 
stead of absorbing them. Reflected sound waves make speak- 
ing difficult and ineffective. Therefore, for the sake of good 
acoustics, as well as for other reasons, it is becoming in- 
creasingly necessary to provide rugs or carpets for the floors 
and curtains and draperies for the windows, as these absorb 
sound waves and are a potent aid in teaching, 


SumTaBLE EQUIPMENT 


Another requirement of the teacher in the church school 
is suitable equipment. For every primary, junior, and inter- 
mediate classroom, there is needed a class table of suitable 
size and height, and durable, comfortable chairs of proper 
heights, as has already been said. For senior, young people’s, 
and adult classrooms, student chairs, with table-arm for writ- 
ing, are desirable. 

A blackboard of some kind is an indispensable part of 
the equipment of every classroom and assembly-room. It need 
not be large for the church-school classroom, as it will be used 
only by the teacher for the most part. If built in, it should be 
placed on the entrance end of the room, opposite the window, 
and should be of dull finished slate or composition, prefer- 
ably of dark green color. If portable blackboard is used, 
it should be of light weight, on stable base. Endless cloth 
blackboard on rollers, with yielding surface, is desirable. If 
economy is urgent, a yard or half a yard of blackboard 
eloth, with light strip of wood at top and at bottom, and 
hung on the wall, is practicable. A blackboard on spring 


42 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


roller in frame is preferred by many. Some teachers like 
to have about a yard cr half a yard of cork surface, placed 
conveniently in one of the walls, upon which may be fastened 
illustrative materials. Sometimes a board with cork surface 
on one side and blackboard on the other is hung on a school- 
room wall. The smaller the blackboard, and the more in- 
conspicuous it is, the less will it detract from the homelike 
appearance of the room. 

Various other types of equipment, such as maps, books, 
handwork materials, pictures, illustrative objects, and the 
like, should be provided in accordance with the grade and the 
need; and these should be kept in order when not in use, in 
cabinet or closet in assembly-room for the beginners, pri- 
mary, junior, intermediate, and senior departments, and in 
cabinet or closet in the classroom for young people’s 
or adult class. All cabinets and closets should be built in 
and recessed with the wall above furred out to the face of 
same. 


Tue INVITING CLASSROOM 


A fourth requirement in the classroom for good teaching, 
is beauty. If we are to make progress in religious education, 
we must get away from institutional bareness and rigidity and 
uniformity, and so finish and decorate and furnish the class- 
room that it will possess everything of essential educational 
value that is to be found in the best equipped public-school 
room plus the cozy quality that is found in a well-furnished 
room in a good home. 

This requrement absolutely demands attractive interior 
trim and finish, a rug or carpet on the floor, curtains and 


FURNISHINGS IN SCHOOL ROOMS 43 


draperies at the windows, pictures on the walls, and a har- 
monizing color scheme. 
‘‘Attractiveness should be a consideration,’’ says H. M. 





CRADLE ROLL ROOM, BROAD STREET M. KE. CHURCH, RICHMOND, 
VIRGINIA 


King, ‘‘in the plan, arrangement and structural forms of the 
classroom: the size and location of wall openings, the rela- 
tive position they occupy, the way in which they balance with 
surrounding wall surfaces and the relation they have to 


floor and eeiling.’? And intelligent attention should be 


44 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


given to the trim of the room, which includes such things 
as beams, brackets, casings, wainscotings, panelling; and the 
papering, staining, painting, enamelling, starching, and oil- 
ing of surfaces, 

We may secure a decorative effect in our windows through 
the use of small panes of white cathedral glass, and through 
various other means. Glass in the upper part of the class- 
room door also assists in the same way. This may be handled 
in various ways. Nine small panes of glass, eight of them 
being of white cathedral glass, or some other obscured glass, 
and the middle one of clear glass, for unobtrusive observation 
on the part of superintendent and of visitors, give a pleasing 
effect. 

An interior decorator, speaking of a room in a home, says 
that it should be ‘‘eracious and hospitable, lke a beautiful 
smile of friendliness and warmth, inviting us to remain.”’ 
He says: ‘‘A floor covering is no longer considered as a 
mere decoration, but as a source of inspiration, whereby to 
create the atmosphere that will express personality, the se- 
eret of every pleasing room. The heart of the room is the rug. 
It is the central unit from which all the other units—furni- 
ture, draperies and accessories—seem to radiate. Around its 
color scheme the decorations are built; its tone and texture 
pulsate with a warming welcome. Little of the real spirit 
of the room is left if the rug is taken out.’’ 

Who would want to entertain his friends in a room with a 
bare floor, or to sit in it to read or write? Why should any 
of us be content to be less comfortable and less hospitable 
in the house of God than in our homes? Let us, by some 
means, have rugs in all the classrooms in the ehureh-school 
building. Rugs of good standard quality are most desirable, 
and usually obtainable. 


FURNISHINGS IN SCHOOL ROOMS AS 


Mr. Edward F. Jansson, of the Bureau of Architecture of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, says: ‘‘I like to see a 
loose rug in a classroom, and think that rooms that are used 
for both social and educational purposes might well be car- 
peted over the entire area. This has a dual virtue, in that 
it presents a more finished appearance for club gatherings, 
and children who might be boisterous in other rooms would 
feel less free about causing any disturbance in such a room.’’ 

Some may object that rugs in classrooms are unsanitary. 
They are no more unsanitary there than in our homes. A 
rug in a home needs to be vacuum-cleaned frequently, in 
order to be kept in a sanitary condition, and a rug in a class- 
room will need the same sort of attention, We cannot have 
anything worth having in religious education unless we are 
willing to pay the price in intelhgent effort and in constant 
care and attention. 

If the rug is the heart of the room, then the head is the 
eurtains and draperies, Let us have them. They need not 
eost any great amount of money. They can be made, in 
many instances, by the members of the class. 


VALUE OF PICTURES 


Graded teaching pictures on the walls are the arms of 
the room. They enfold the human spirit in an embrace of 
safety and repose, and woo it to faith in God and man. 

Pictures are as essentially a part of the lesson materials 
of a church school as are ‘‘quarterlies,’’ text-books, and 
libraries; and they should be selected with wisdom and hung 
with intelligence. There is no excuse for the cheap litho- 
graphs to be seen in some of our school-rooms. It is pos- 
sible to secure good reproductions of great paintings at modest 


46 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


prices, and to make selection from a vast treasury of re- 
ligious art. 

As one example of such selection, the authors give here 
a list of pictures chosen by Joseph Hudnut, architect, for a 
client, a Methodist Episcopal church. All these are color 
prints published by the Medici Society, 755 Boylston Street, 
3oston, Massachusetts. Each of these prints reproduces a 
painting by some one of the great masters of painting, and is 
obtainable at from five to eighteen dollars in price. 

For beginners’ rooms, the following: Hoppner, The Sack- 
ville Children (overmantel); Reynolds, The Age of Inno- 
cence; Miereveld, A Child with a Parrot; Reynolds, Lady 
Gertrude Fitzpatrick; Fragonard, The Fair-haired Boy; 
Suardi, Putto under a Vine. 

For primary rooms: Corregio, Virgin and Child—detail 
from the ‘‘Holy Night’’ (overmantel) ; Cima da Conegliano, 
The Presentation in the Temple; Cranach, The Rest on the 
Flight into Egypt; Diirer, The Adoration of the Magi; 
Raphael, Saint George; Filippo Lippi, An Angel Adoring. 

For junior rooms: Fra Angelico, The Annunciation (over- 
mantel) ; Pinturicchio, A Young Knight Kneeling; Giotto, 
Saint Francis and the Birds; Da Vinci, Two Angels—detail 
from the ‘‘Baptism’’; Filippo Lippi, The Holy Family; 
teynolds, The Holy Family. 

For intermediate rooms: Titian, Madonna of the Cherries 
(overmantel) ; Ford Madox Brown, Christ Washing the Feet 
of Peter; Gilbert Stuart, George Washington. 

For senior rooms: Raphael, Madonna and Child—detail 
from the Sistine Madonna (overmantel) ; Raphael, Madonna 
della Sedia (alternate overmantel); Rembrandt, A Young 
Warrior; Hoppner, The Sisters; Raeburn, Boy with a Rabbit. 

For young people’s rooms: Da Vinci, The Last Supper 


FURNISHINGS IN SCHOOL ROOMS AT 


(overmantel) ; Titian, The Tribute Money; Millet, The An- 
gelus; Whistler, Portrait of His Mother; Da Vinei, Study for 
Head of Christ; Rembrandt, Holy Family. 

For adult rooms, club rooms and parlors: Hobbema, The 
Avenue (overmantel); Rembrandt, The Stone Bridge; 
Claude Gellée, Rest on the Flight into Egypt; Corot, Wood 
Gatherers; Constable, The Cornfield; Cappelle, A Calm, 


CONTROLLING COLOR SCHEME 


The controlling factor in the development of a welcoming, 
attractive classroom interior is the color scheme, which must 
merge all the finishing and furnishings into a harmonious 
and beautiful unity. The bases for most of the color schemes 
that are desirable in the church-school room are what are 
called ‘‘sunlight colors,’’? which are of the yellow variety, and 
range from light cream to gold. In rooms that are especially 
well-lighted, it is permissible to use greens and blues and 
erays in very light tones, Pink should be used sparinely. 
White is sterile and cold, and evokes no pleasurable mental 
response. All strong reds and yellows should be avoided, 
as they stimulate the nerves and tend to produce restlessness 
in the pupils. 

‘‘Decorative wall colorings,’’ as H. M. King, of the Archi- 
tectural Department of the M. E. Church, South, says, ‘‘should 
possess charm’’; and James Wallen says, ‘‘Charm abides in 
the twilight, the sheen of pearls, the bloom of the peach, 
muted musie, and gentle laughter. Charm likes neither brazen 
olare nor inky blackness. Charm prefers coral to red, jade 
to clear green, mulberry to purple. And above all, charm 
prizes a middle ground between shining brillanecy and dull 
drabness.”’ 


48 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


It would seem to be advisable to use the same wood-trim 
and doors throughout the public portions of the educational 
building, and then to have different color schemes for the 
various departments, so that the pupils, as they pass from 
one department to the next higher, may thus be assisted 
in appreciating the fact of advancement as typified by their 
new surroundings. The same color scheme should control 
throughout a departmental unit, in the assembly-room and 
in the classrooms. 

Almost everything that has been said about classrooms will 
apply to assembly-rooms. Every assembly-room should have 
at least one built-in cabinet with shelves and drawers, for 
books and other supplies, located near the superintendent’s 
desk, if practicable. This cabinet should be of the same 
material as the other trim of the room. A fireplace and 
mantel-shelf constitute a desirable feature, 

Adequate coat-room facilities should be provided for every 
department. It will be an advantage if the coat-room is so 
placed as to constitute an entrance hall for the assembly-room, 
so that the pupils may discard their wraps before entering 
the room, and put them on after leaving the room. Such 
an arrangement will be an aid to good order and reverence 
and attractiveness within the assembly-room. A platform is 
not necessary unless the department has in it more than two 
hundred pupils. Pupils in the assembly-room should never 
sit facing the light. Entrance should be at the back of the 
room, and never at the platform end. 

It is advisable to have at the entrance of each assembly- 
room, in neat lettering, the name of the department, and on 
each classroom door the number of the room. 

The furnishing and decorating of a school-room may become 


FURNISHINGS IN SCHOOL ROOMS 49 


an educational project, the pupils making investigations as 
to the character and quality of the furnishings, and enlisting 
the assistance of an interior decorator or a teacher of art 
in the public school in choosing and developing a color scheme. 
This is a far better way than for an adult or a group of 
adults to do it all for the pupils. 


SUMMARY OF SUGGESTIONS 


1. The requirement of every teacher in the church school, for 
good teaching, is four-fold, namely, isolation, comfort, equipment, 
and beauty. 

2. Every class needs, for its work, a separate room, with per- 
manent partitions and a single, hinged door. 

3. A service box in the wall, a clear glass pane in the door, and 
a rug or carpet on the floor will protect the class from numerous 
disturbances. 

4. For the sake of comfort and good work, every classroom 
should have comfortable chairs, suitable tables, an abundance of 
diffused light, adequate heating and ventilation, and good acousties. 

5. In addition to chairs and tables, the classroom needs to be 
equipped with blackboard, graded pictures, books, handwork ma- 
terials, illustrative objects, and the like, and built-in recessed cab- 
inet for higher grades. 

6. For a vital religious education, the classroom needs to be char- 
acterized by beauty, which may be secured through attractive in- 
terior trim and finish, and through the use of a rug or carpet, cur- 
tains and draperies, pictures, and a harmonizing color scheme. 

7. Every assembly-room should be furnished with chairs of non- 
folding type, a table-desk, a blackboard, a built-in cabinet, a rug 
or carpet, curtains and draperies, and graded pictures. 

8. An appropriate harmonizing color scheme should control in 
the finish and furnishings of an assembly-room. 


50 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


9. The entrance to an assembly-room should be at the rear, op- 
posite the superintendent’s table-desk, and pupils should not sit 


facing the lght. 
10. Every department should be provided with adequate coat- 


room facilities. 


CHAPTER V 
NEW BUILDINGS HELP 


SURVEY of the church-building situation in America 

makes it clear that those churches which have provided 
educational facilities of the type set forth in this book have 
been characterized by distinct improvement in life and work 
and service. 


WHat Pastors Say 


We have already presented, in Chapter III, some of the 
results of our survey, particularly as they relate to the value 
of small classrooms for primary and junior pupils. 

We present here, from pastors, a few statements that are 
representative of many, and that are indicative of some 
of the results of providing suitable facilities for the educa- 
tional work of the church. 

Rev. J. Seott Ebersole, pastor of the Lafayette Avenue 
Baptist Church of Buffalo, New York, after three years’ ex- 
perience in a new-type building, says, ‘‘Our new building has 
made possible a real graded, departmentalized school. It has 
laid great responsibility upon the general superintendent to 
keep good, strong, clear-headed departmental superintend- 
ents at work, and has made it possible to raise the standards 
of teaching. We are having some wonderfully fruitful class 


sessions in the junior and intermediate departments, where 
51 


52 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


the pupils come to close grips with their teachers. Many 
pupils volunteer to lead in prayer. There have been open 
declarations of the acceptance of Christ, in ways wholly im- 
possible by the old method with large open rooms, or even 
with eurtains, movable partitions, and other makeshifts.”’ 

Rey. R.S. Truesdale, D. D., St. John’s M. E. Church, South, 
Rock Hill, 8. C., says: ‘‘We have been in our new building 
nearly two years, and that we have advanced on all lines 
is shown by the figures on our books. The new educational 
equipment is meeting demands that we have felt should be 
met a long time.”’ 

Rev. Henry F. Widen, Central Church, Quincy, Mass., 
says: ‘‘We are very enthusiastic about the educational unit 
of our church building. All our classes now have individual 
rooms in which they meet for their work without either 
being disturbed by or disturbing other classes. Our Sun- 
day school attendance stood at about one hundred and fifty 
for two years, but we are now growing, and we expect to have 
an enrolment of three hundred within a year.’’ 

Rey. Clarence W. Kemper, D.D., Temple Church, Charles- 
ton, W. Va., says: ‘‘In the old building, we had an average 
attendance in our church school of something over six hun- 
dred, and it is now around the eight hundred attendance mark, 
actually reaching eight hundred and two last Sunday. We 
expect to have a thousand by Easter time, and that is the 
capacity of our new educational building.”’ 

Rev. Geo. T. Waite, Barton Heights Church, Richmond, 
Va., says: ‘‘Our educational building has been in use a little 
over three years, and is now over-crowded. Our school has 
doubled. We have purchased the house and lot adjoining, 
for enlargement when we feel financially able to undertake 
it. This new type of building with classrooms for all the 


NEW BUILDINGS HELP 53 


classes and assembly-room for each department, enables the 
teachers to do their best teaching and helps them and the 
pupils to develop a departmental spirit. It helps to solve 
the teacher problem.’’ 

Rev. George 8S. Young, Jenkintown, Pa., says: ‘‘In our 
new educational building, we have had a twenty per cent in- 
crease in attendance within a year; and we are able to do 
more effective work, and to do it more easily. The new 
building enables us to take care of the community week- 
day Bible School, with public-school time, and an enrolment 
of about three hundred. This kind of a building appeals 
to the intelligent people who are interested in religious edu- 
cation.’’ 

Rev. Charles E. Hamric, Arlington Street Church, Akron, 
Ohio, says: ‘‘Since moving into our new educational build- 
ing, about a year ago, we have increased our average at- 
tendance from five hundred to six hundred, in a steady 
growth, without any special effort. The assembly-room and 
classrooms for each department give us ideal working con- 
ditions. We are glad that we built the school-house before 
building the chureh auditorium.’’ 

Rev. Henry W. Tiffany, Th. D., Church of the Redeemer, 
Brooklyn, New York, says: ‘‘The general reaction to our 
new school building, since our school moved in, about six 
months ago, has been that of approval on the part of teachers, 
pupils, and visitors. The individual classrooms, with the 
freedom from the distractions, which have so often nullified 
the efforts of faithful teachers, are greatly appreciated by 
both teachers and pupils. It is now easier to hold on to 
regular teachers. Each of our thirty classes has a regular 
teacher, and the percentage of attendance among our teachers 
is very high. We are sharing our new building with the 


54 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


children of this community by opening it to the week-day 
school of religion.’’ 

Rev. C. W. Wise, Roanoke Baptist Church, Kansas City, 
Mo., says: ‘‘Since we moved our school into the new build- 
ing, about two years ago, it has grown to about three hun- 
dred and thirty-five in attendance, nearly doubling, and the 
quality of its work has been vastly improved. Our building 
is used by the interdenominational community week-day re- 
ligious school.”’ 


Looking AHEAD 


If any one should say, ‘‘Our leaders in religious education 
have changed their opinions about the educational building 
and about educational equipment, and how do we know that 
they will not change again?’’ the answer is that the convic- 
tion that the school of the church should be handled in de- 
partmental assemblies and in classes is based on a wide range 
of psychological research and pedagogical experience, and 
there is no probability that we shall ever return to the old 
ungraded, unscientific procedure. We may change, and it 
is to be hoped that we shall, but our changes likely will be 
developments of our present ideals and practices. 

The best that any chureh ean do is to face its building 
problem intelligently and fearlessly, in the light of general 
experience, with the assistance of the specialists, and then 
go forward. Build something, Then build again twenty 
years later, if it becomes necessary. That is the way the 
business man does. We know a business man who built 
a factory, with the assistance of experts, and found, some 
years later, that he was compelled to build again, and to build 
differently. Conditions and ideals had changed in his busi- 


NEW BUILDINGS HELP 55 


ness, and his business had grown, He could well afford to 
build again, and he did it cheerfully. The worst mistake 
any church can make is to doubt and hesitate and wait, and 
not build at all. 

If there be objection offered to small classrooms, on the 
ground that some leaders in religious education are recom- 
mending large classes, and that all of us may later come 
to hold this view, the evident answer to this objection is that, 
while the partitions between small classrooms, in the new 
type of building, are permanent in the sense that they are 
not of the movable type, the building may be so constructed 
that they can be removed altogether, just as such parti- 
tions between rooms in an office building sometimes are re- 
moved or moved. 

If some object to what they call the ‘‘inflexibility’’ of 
the new type of building, with its small classrooms and 
permanent partitions, it must be said that this objection is 
based on a misunderstanding of the situation and on an 
imaginary contingeney that will, in all probability, never 
arise. The allowance of fifteen square feet of floor-space 
for each pupil, seven in the assembly-room and eight in the 
classroom, contemplates sufficient room for the best educa- 
tional results, which means that the capacity of these rooms 
can be increased by about twenty-five per cent by crowding, 
without movable partitions and without double doors in the 
classrooms. That is, seventy-five juniors, for instance, could 
be accommodated in a departmental unit planned for sixty, 
and then not be any more crowded than they are at present in 
some of the old-type buildings. Another consideration is 
that flexibility in the new type of building may be obtained 
through the shifting of classes, with the rooms of varied 
sizes. 


56 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


WortH ALL THE Cost 


Sometimes this new type of building is objected to on the 
basis of costs, but this objection is not well founded, for, 
as a matter of fact, it has been found that it costs less than 
the old ‘‘Akron plan’’ type of building, with its wasteful 
height of ceiling in the main room and its grotesque irregu- 
larities. Also, it has been demonstrated that classrooms may 
be provided at a very small expense. The reason is that ex- 
actly the same amount of floor-space is required for the use of 
a given department when the space is all in the one assembly- 
room as when the space is shared with the added classrooms, 
since each pupil needs an allowance of fifteen square feet 
of floor-space whether the classes meet in several classrooms 
or in the one large assembly-room. When the classes are 
in the one room, each class having its class table as well as 
chairs, the fifteen square feet of floor-space are needed, al- 
lowing for the passage of superintendent and secretary be- 
tween classes and a sufficient separation of group from groups 
to make possible any sort of good teaching, whereas seven 
square feet is a sufficient allowance in the assembly-room, 
when the tables are kept in the classrooms, where eight square 
feet is a sufficient allowance, by reason of the fact that the 
partitions separate class from classes. 

For more than a generation, the value of separate class- 
rooms in public-school work has not been seriously questioned, 
and there is no good reason for questioning their equal value 
in chureh-school work. Surely, our sons and daughters are 
entitled to at least as good a chance at the Bible as at arithme- 
tie, algebra, American history, and English literature: and 
they can never have such equal chance while there are several 


NEW BUILDINGS HELP 57 


classes in the same room or with the partial separation of 
sereens, curtains, or movable partitions. 

Occasionally it has been said that it seems a waste of money 
to erect a school building that is used for a period of only 
about one hour a week. The shorter the period, the greater 
the necessity for the facilities that will make it maximum 
in efficiency; but, as a matter of actual fact, these new-type 
buildings are being used increasingly for various week-day 
meetings and activities and for the housing of an organized 
program of week-day religious education, 

This growing demand for an extension of the time devoted 
to distinctively Christian education and our enlarging eduea- 
tional ideals make it insistently imperative that our churches 
everywhere arise and build, and that our new church-school 
buildings shall be of such character that they will command 
the respect of all leaders in educational thought and _ prac- 
tice. 


One MARKED RESULT 


In every case where such buildings have been erected, 
our survey shows, there has been a material increase in the 
church-school attendance, as well as in educational efficiency. 
There seem to be three chief reasons for this marked result. 

The first is the advertising obtained through such sig- 
nificant achievement, for, while the total number of churches 
with modern provision for religious education has become 
considerable, the number as compared with the total number 
of churches is still quite small. Therefore, the chureh that 
builds for religious education and for Christian recreation, 
as well as for worship, is doing the unusual thing, It will 


58 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


attract widespread favorable attention, and gather into it- 
self many of the more intelligent and desirable members of 
the community. 

A second reason is that a new educational building lends 
new emphasis to the fact that the school of the church is 
a real school, with school ideals and practices, and thus 
tends to attract competent workers, while at the same time 
stimulating the present executives and teachers to more 
intelligent effort under the improved conditions. 

A third reason for increased attendance when a new school 
building is erected is that the improved facilities, combined 
with the awakening of the officers and teachers, make the 
school more interesting and worth while to its pupils. There- 
fore, it is easier to gain and hold pupils. The most at- 
tractive institution in the world is a school of religion with 
a dynamie program, a competent working force, and ade- 
quate building and equipment. It is the greatest of evan- 
velizing agencies as well as the greatest training camp for 
Christian recruits. 


SUMMARY OF SUGGESTIONS 


1. A survey shows that churches grow in membership and effi- 
ciency when they provide adequate educational facilities for their 
schools, 

2. Pastors who have had experience with buildings of the newer 
type speak with conviction and enthusiasm of their great value. 

3. There are many reasons for believing that the type of building 
deseribed and illustrated in these pages will be adequate twenty 
years from now, so far as its essential character is concerned. 

4. Every church should face its building problem intelligently 
and fearlessly, in the light of general experience, with the assistance 
of the specialists, and then go forward. 


NEW BUILDINGS HELP 59 


5. Partitions of the permanent type can be so constructed that 
they can be removed later, in case larger rooms should be desired. 

6. A building with permanent partitions is possessed of a consid- 
erable degree of flexibility. 

7. The new type of building is not extravagant in cost, and is 
a good chureh investment. 

8. If pupils are to have an equal chance at the Bible and arith- 
metic and United States history and English literature, the chureh- 
school teacher must have a separate classroom of permanent- 
partitions, single hinged-door type, such as the public-school teacher 
Las had, without question, for more than a generation. 

9 A new building with adequate educational facilities results in 
a larger chureh school. 

10. Such a new building attracts favorable attention, enlists new 
workers, and recruits new pupils. 


CHAPTER VI 
THE CHURCH AUDITORIUM 


HERE is a widespread feeling, among laymen as well 

as among architects, that a chureh auditorium cannot 
be beautiful unless it is copied, or imitated, from one of 
the beautiful churches of the mediaeval centuries. Other 
architectures progress, adapting themselves in plan and 
structure and decoration to the changing needs of the times; 
but the church building is thought of as immutable in type. 
The Christian sanctuary is to remain forever that perfect piece 
of architecture given us by the Gothie architects; and, if this 
sanctuary does not appear to be fitted for a certain form 
of Christian service, then it must be the service, and not 
the sanctuary, that is at fault. It will be better to modify 
our service, it is thought, than to abandon an architecture so 
eloquent in expression and so splendid in its harmonies of 
line and space. 

To reason in this way is to misunderstand completely the 
spirit of the mediaeval architectures. If the history of the 
arts has taught us anything it has taught us this: that archi- 
tecture, to be fine, must be significant, and to be significant 
it must be based upon utility—that is to say, it must conform 
to some practical and exigent need of its own time. No 
such architecture was ever inspired by a scholarly interest in 
forms bequeathed from the past, or by a reverence for tradi- 


tion, or by an academic search for ideal beauty; but always 
? . v? ry 
60 


THE CHURCH AUDITORIUM 61 


good architecture is inspired by an effort to make impressive 
and beautiful a building which is, first of all, intimately 
adapted in plan and structure for a contemporary usage. 
Gothic architecture is mediaeval liturgy translated into stone. 
The Gothie sanetuary is primarily a setting for the ceremonial 
of the mediaeval church: every line of its intricate fabric is de- 
termined by some requirement of those ancient and beautiful 
rites. Because it conforms to these mediaeval needs, it ex- 
presses most perfectly the mediaeval Christianity. 


EXPRESSIVE BEAUTY 


We should begin, like the Gothic builder, by thinking of 
our needs. So long as we copy the mediaeval model we shall 
achieve nothing but an alien and inexpressive beauty. So 
long as we imitate the mediaeval buildings, trying by adapta- 
tions and eliminations to fit them to our service, we shall sue- 
ceed only in destroying the mediaeval spirit without express- 
ing in any way our own spirit. We ought to think of the 
church building, not as an historic monument, but as a prac- 
tical and useful structure to be planned and built, like any 
other useful structure, with reference to the particular use- 
fulness we have in mind. We ought to plan our churches 
as a part of the architecture of our own cities, just as we 
would plan a theater or an apartment house, basing our de- 
sign upon the conditions of life in these cities. Only in that 
way can we hope to develop a vital ecclesiastical architecture, 
consonant in spirit with the spirit of our Christian eiviliza- 
tion. 

What is demanded in the auditorium of an evangelical 
ehureh is a room adapted, not for ritual, but for perfect hear- 
ing and seeing. <A room of that kind must not be long and 


62 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


narrow, because in a long narrow room too many of the 
congregation are widely separated from the pulpit. A room 
of that kind must not be high and elaborately vaulted, be- 
cause in a high vaulted room good acoustics are impossible. 
Nor can this room be cut up into numerous and varied sub- 
divisions such as aisles, transepts, and deep chancels, nor 
complicated in plan by rows of piers and columns, because 
these features make hearing and seeing difficult. The per- 
fect auditorium is a very simple rectangular room having only 
two parts: a chaneel, for the pulpit and the choir, and the 
congregational space. The length should seldom exceed 
one-and-one-half times the width, and the height should sel- 
dom exceed two-thirds of the width. There must be neither 
columns nor piers, except perhaps those which form decora- 
tive motifs at the sides of the room; and the ceiling should 
be flat, or nearly so, and of one height throughout. 

The spirit of such a room is the antithesis of the Gothic 
spirit. It cannot be sumptuous or mystic or dramatic. Yet 
it can be made just as beautiful: not immediately, perhaps, 
for great architectures develop slowly from the persistent 
efforts of generations, but ultimately. The Colonial archi- 
tects have shown us in their gracious interiors how such a 
development may be begun: spacious, austere, and serene, with 
restful lines and quiet wall spaces, these American churches 
present a type of room which can well be made expressive of 
all that is fine in the intelligent and courageous faith of our 
day. 

The most important principle to be observed in the design 
of an auditorium is the principle of symmetry. Not merely 
the room itself, but all parts of it, must be symmetrical in 
their arrangement: only in that way can the room be properly 
organized for comfort and efficient use, and endowed with 


THE CHURCH AUDITORIUM 63 


those qualities of repose and unity which are proper for the 
setting of a Christian service. Picturesqueness, informality, 
romance, are out of place in a church auditorium: the first 
essential is order. 





INTERIOR OF MAIN AUDITORIUM OF FIRST M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH, 
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA 


Symmetry may best be obtained by arranging the room 
about a central axis in such a way that all parts on one side 
of this axis are repeated on the other. The auditorium is to 
be divided by an imaginary line, parallel to its longer sides, 
which will cut the room into two halves, each half exactly hke 
the other. The arrangement of pews and aisles, the design 
of the galleries, if there are galleries, the size and spacing 


64 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


of the windows, the lighting fixtures and decorations, are to 
be precisely similar on each side of this imaginary line. 


APPROACHES 


Symmetry should also characterize the approaches to the 
auditorium. We must not think of this room as existing 
independently of its surroundings; and of course the most 
important of these surroundings are the parts which form 
the approach to the auditorium from the street. The comfort 
and effectiveness, no less than the beauty, of an auditorium 
depend in no small degree on the provisions made for enter- 
ing and leaving it: the worst features of our churches arise 
from the architect’s neglect of this principle. A corner 
tower, with entrances at the base, may look picturesque and 
commanding on a street corner; but a corner is of all parts 
of a room the least adapted for the coming and going of 
erowds, and a tower, which because of its height and weight 
demands thick walls and small openings at the base, is of all 
architectural forms the least suited for an entrance. Great 
flights of steps may be impressive and even beautiful; but 
they impose a heavy burden upon a congregation. 

The only satisfactory approach, except in very small 
churches, is directly along the major axis of the auditorium— 
the axis deseribed above. This axis should be at right angles 
to the principal street. The auditorium itself should be 
placed at some distance back from the sidewalk so as to 
allow an open space of pavement in front of the building; be- 
yond this space the facade, symmetrically designed, should 
have three doorways, symmetrically arranged on the axis. 
There may be other entrances, or exits, leading to minor 
streets or to other parts of the church group; but these must 


THE CHURCH AUDITORIUM 65 


be in design and arrangement obviously subordinate to one 
direct formal approach. 

A portico may precede the doorways of the main facade. 
Except where the conditions of the site make it absolutely 
necessary, this portico should not be raised more than three 
steps above the level of the street pavement. The portico 
exists as a kind of ‘‘outdoor room,’’ forming a transition be- 
tween street and church. It is not merely a bit of monu- 
mental art masking the facade; it is a room, a place where 
people may pause a moment before entering the church, a 
preparation for the stateliness of the interior, or where they 
may remain for a moment after the service. It must be 
designed for use as a room: it must be spacious, well- 
proportioned, with an attractive pavement and ceiling, and 
pleasant vistas between the columns. Above all, it must be 
deep: not a mere row of columns placed against a wall but 
rows of columns enclosing the three sides of a rectangular 
floor with room enough to move about under the roof. 

The Colonial architects usually built a high tower, crowned 
with a spire, between the portico and the church. That is, 
of course, a very striking and beautiful arrangement, but 
oftentimes the presence of the tower produces congestion at 
the entrances: it is necessary to build somewhat heavy sup- 
ports at the very place where open space is most needed. A 
tower of that kind may be tolerated in a small church or in 
a chureh of light construction, but the arangement is not 
a rational one for large buildings. We should remember that 
the Colonial tradition grew up under conditions quite dif- 
ferent from our own. If the Colonial architects had had to 
design buildings as varied in mass and as extensive in plan 
as a modern chureh group, they would probably have placed 
their tower in some other position, making use of the ascend- 


66 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


ing lines to pull into unity the divergent units of the group. 

Whether there is a tower or not, there must be a spacious 
vestibule between the street and the auditorium. Like the 
portico, this is a transitional room, but it is of more im- 
portance because without it uncongested circulation to and 
from the auditorium is impossible. The vestibule should 
extend across the width of the auditorium, having an entrance 
into the auditorium at the end of each aisle, and, at each end 
stairways leading up to the galleries, if there are galleries. 
Even in a small church the vestibule must not be less than 
twelve feet wide and of course it should be agreeably pro- 
portioned, with a somewhat low ceiling, which may be vaulted. 
The walls may be laid up im stone or brick and the floor may 
be of slate or marble—that is to say, there may be elements 
in the design which reeall the architecture of the exterior 
as well as those which anticipate the architecture of the in- 
terior. Warm colorings, brightly patterned floors, textured 
plaster, carvings in stone or wood, painted decorations, or 
pictures on walls or in windows, must be avoided; and of 
course there should be no furniture. <A vestibule is a room 
to be passed through: it may be hospitable but it cannot be 
informal. 


Pews AND AISLES 


From the main entrance to the auditorium, opening from 
the vestibule on the major axis of the room, a wide central 
aisle should lead across the length of the auditorium to the 
chancel. This aisle is indispensable, not only for the mar- 
riage and funeral services, but also for the efficient circula- 
tion of the congregation at the beginning and end of Sun- 


THE CHURCH AUDITORIUM 67 


day services. Such an aisle does not divide the congregation 
except as viewed from the pulpit; on the contrary the central 
aisle, by providing a central line of circulation to the pulpit, 
enhances the unity of the plan. Minor aisles must be sym- 
metrically arranged right and left of this center: usually 
two such aisles will suffice and these may be placed against 
the side walls. 

Except in large churches, where more than fifteen hun- 
dred people are to be seated, pews should be straight with 
their backs parallel to the shorter sides of the auditorium. 
Little is gained by the use of curved pews except in a room 
which has the chancel in the center of the longer side; and 
a room of that type is unsuited for use as a church. The 
minister who speaks from the narrower side of a room has 
nearly all of his congregation directly in front of him, so 
that the curved pew can help only a very small part of the 
people to hear and see. This slight advantage does not off- 
set the added cost of the curved pew, the reduction in seating 
capacity, and the increased congestion in circulation. The 
aisles, like the pews, should follow the rectangular lines of 
the architecture; radiating aisles or curved aisles present no 
advantages except in the largest churches. 

The floor should be flat. We must remember that a good 
church auditorium is not designed on the principle of a 
theater where every seat must be sufficiently elevated to 
command a view of a wide proscenium where actors move 
in a pictorial setting. The attention of a congregation is 
centered on one point, the pulpit, which is, or ought to be, 
elevated. In a theater the spectator must be able to see 
into the depths of the stage, which is flat; in a church the 
chancel is shallow and the deeper parts of it elevated. 


68 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


LIGHTING 


The most careful attention must be given to the lighting 
of an auditorium. The best lighting is obtained by the 
use of wide windows at both sides, the sills being about six 
feet above the floor. That assures a high pleasant light 
and prevents the draughts which come from lower windows. 
There should be enough light to flood the whole interior; we 
have had quite enough of that twilight gloom which used 
to be called a ‘‘dim and religious light.’’ 

But, of course, it is not always possible to have large win- 
dows, especially when side galleries are used. In that case 
it will be necessary to have two ranges of windows and the 
lighting, having a larger number of sources, will be neces- 
sarily more confused in quality. We can minimize this fault 
by making the windows above the gallery as large as pos- 
sible and reducing those under the gallery to such an area 
as will just provide for the seats under the galleries. 

The most practicable windows are those divided into rec- 
tangular panes by steel or wooden bars and glazed with some 
‘‘obseure’’ glass having a warm tone, such as the fine cathe- 
dral glass imported from England. <A simple geometric 
pattern in the bars, especially towards the top of the win- 
dows, is permissible; but intricate stone tracery should be 
avoided. Stained glass or painted glass, except perhaps in 
a chancel window which is essentially a decoration rather 
than a source of lght, is altogether out of place in a church 
auditorium: nothing has contributed more to the discomfort 
and restless ugliness of many of our modern churches. 

At night the auditorium should be lighted by large 
fixtures hung from the ceiling. Each fixture should be made 
up of a large number of small lights rather than one or two 


THE CHURCH AUDITORIUM 69 


large lights, and there should be enough of these to make it 
possible to read in all the pews. Care should be taken not to 
provide too much light; nothing could be more uncomfort- 
able than the glare which too often characterizes our churches 
at night. The steady cold light which results from the use 
of ‘‘indireet lighting’’ is equally to be avoided; light to be 
efficient need not be harsh. 


GALLERIES 


In small churches—that is, those seating less than five 
hundred people—there should be no gallery. <A gallery di- 
vides the congregation: it was introduced for that purpose 
at a time when women, having a less dignified position than 
men in human society, were separated from the men. A 
gallery is, necessarily, the least comfortable part of a church 
and, obviously, the service is much less impressive when seen 
from a gallery than when seen from the floor. 

In a large chureh galleries are necessary. In the Colonial 
auditoriums there were galleries extending around three sides 
of the room, all galleries being straight and parallel to the 
sides of the room. No finer setting for a congregational 
service can be imagined. From the manner in which the con- 
eregation is arranged, from the clearly-defined spaces of the 
interior, and from the firm harmonies of line, there arises 
a splendid feeling of unity, repose, and of concentrated at- 
tention on the pulpit. In such a room the gallery tends least 
to divide a congregation. 

Of course side galleries will obstruct a considerable amount 
of light and air. When there is a rear gallery only, the side 
galleries being omitted, the congregation is cut in two and 
aecess to the communion denied to a large part of it; but 


70 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


such an arrangement does permit the use of high and noble 
windows along the sides of the room. That is a very great 
advantage, for it results not merely in more light but, what is 
more important, in a finer distribution of light. Whenever 
the normal congregation can be accommodated on the floor 
and the gallery is needed merely to provide for the occasional 
enlargement of a congregation, the rear gallery, without side 
valleries, is to be preferred. In any ease, galleries should be 
low and unobstructed by columns or piers. 


Tur CHANCEL 


The chancel of an evangelical church should be a wide 
shallow recess opening from the center of the narrow end of 
the room opposite the entrance. The width of the chancel 
should be such as to make it essentially a part of the audito- 
rium: it should be at least two-thirds as wide as the narrower 
side of the auditorium. It may be reetangular or semi- 
circular in plan: the semi-circular form, or apse, is perhaps 
the better form except where space for a large choir is to be 
provided. 

The chancel may have a flat ceiling of the same height, or 
of nearly the same height, as that of the auditorium, or it 
may have a vaulted ceiling in the form of a barrel-vault or 
a semi-dome. 

The chancel should be separated into two parts by a sereen 
about six feet high placed at right angles to its axis (that is, 
parallel to the front) and each part so separated should have 
a floor of a different level. The floor of the part towards the 
auditorium, which will be used as a pulpit platform, should 
be not less than sixteen inches above the floor level of the 
auditorium, for a small church, and not more than forty- 


THE CHURCH AUDITORIUM Tl 


two inches above this level for a large church. The floor 
area back of the sereen, the area to be used by the choir, 
should be raised from one to two feet above the level of the 
pulpit platform. This choir floor may be built in several 
levels if there is to be a large choir. 

Many variations are possible in this arrangement, and, of 
course, these variations will depend to a large extent upon 
the special requirements of the different denominations. In 
a Baptist chureh, for example, where the baptistry, forming 
an essential element in the design, should be placed at the 
center and rear of the chaneel, the choir screen may well 
be separated into two parts by a wide opening at the center. 
The choir would then be divided, half on each side of this 
opening, or it may be placed at one side of the opening, with 
the organ console opposite. It is not necessary, of course, 
that a choir should face a congregation, aad it is much better 
to place the choir at one side, or to divide it, than to place 
it in an elevated gallery over the baptistry. <A still better 
plan is to place the choir in a gallery at the rear of the 
auditorium: music is never more effective than when heard 
from such a position and the removal of the choir from the 
chancel adds immensely to the dignity and effectiveness of 
the sermon. Such an arrangement is especially to be ree- 
ommended in a Presbyterian or a Congregational church. 
In a Methodist Episcopal church, the historic chaneel of 
the church of England may be adopted, with a divided choir 
and the communion table placed at the rear of the chancel ; 
but of course such a chancel must not be deep because in 
a deep chancel the communion table is too widely separated 
from the communion rail. 

A typical evangelical church will have the pulpit in the 
eenter of the chancel directly under the chancel arch and 


72 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


the communion table placed in front of this pulpit at a lower 
level. The pulpit may be removable so as to be placed at 
one side during the communion service or during the service 
of baptism. 


DECORATIVE ELEMENTS 


A good auditorium is a very simple room. It is meant 
to provide a quiet and unaffected setting for Christian teach- 
ing: elaboration in its lines and in its spatial arangement, 
sumptuousness in decoration, or monumental scale are wholly 
inconsistent with that function. The ideals to be kept in 
mind are, first of all, nobility and serenity in the proportions, 
purity in the lines, restraint and good taste in decoration. 
There should be nothing that can force itself upon our at- 
tention either by its dramatie qualities or by its cleverness. 

The decorative scheme must of course be symmetrical, in 
keeping with the balanced room. It must be formal, for the 
auditorium is used for a formal purpose. It must be broad 
and simple in quality, free from all fussiness and elabora- 
tion. It should above all be consistent: a common spirit must 
unite all parts of the design from portico to chancel. It 
should be most rich at the chancel, least rich at the entrance: 
warmth of color and richness of detail may well increase pro- 
eressively from street to pulpit. 

The auditorium of an evangelical church ought to be a 
very beautiful room. It will be most beautiful if it is un- 
affected and sincere; that is to say, if its design is based 
frankly upon the use for which the room is intended. Arehi- 
tecture, let us remember, is a medium of expression, a 
language. Our auditorium will be most beautiful if it speaks 
to men of the high purpose to which it is dedicated. 


ww 


THE CHURCH AUDITORIUM 7: 


SUMMARY OF SUGGESTIONS 


1. It is a mistake to think that beauty in the church auditorium 
ean be attained today only through the copying of the beautiful 
churches of the mediaeval centuries; our church buildings should be 
expressive of our own Christianity as the Gothie buildings were ex- 
pressive of mediaeval Christianity. 

2. The auditorium of an evangelical chureh should be adapted 
for perfect hearing and seeing, and should be beautiful. 

3. The principle of symmetry should be observed in the design 
of an auditorium, in the room itself and in all its parts. 

4. Symmetry should also characterize the approaches to the 
auditorium, namely, the portico and the vestibule. 

5. A wide central aisle should lead from the vestibule across the 
length of the auditorium to the chancel, with minor aisles sym- 
metrically arranged right and left of this center. 

6. Exeept in large churches where more than fifteen hundred 
people are to be seated, the pews should be straight with their 
backs built parallel to the shorter sides of the auditorium, and 
the floor should be flat. 

7. The best lighting is obtained by the use of wide windows at 
both sides, the sills being about six feet above the floor; and, at 
night, by large fixtures hung from the ceiling, each fixture made 
up of a large number of small lights. 

8. Galleries are advisable in large auditoriums, and these should 
be low and unobstructed by columns or piers. 

9. The chaneel of an evangelical church should be a wide, shallow 
recess opening from the center of the narrow end of the room 
opposite the entrance, and should be arranged in accordance with 
the special requirements of the different denominations. 

10. A good auditorium is a very simple room, providing a quiet 
and unaffected setting for Christian teaching, and is characterized 
by a dignified, expressive beauty. 


CHAPTER VII 
THE FELLOWSHIP HALL 


I’ it be true, as it is claimed today, that character most 

clearly and fully reveals itself, and is most profoundly in- 
fluenced, during the hours of leisure, then it is imperative that 
the church, particularly in this industrial age of stress and 
strain, lay hold of the recreational life of the people of the 
community, and provide for it Christian incentive and direc- 
tion and supervision, as a part of an educational program. 

If the church is to funetion in this capacity, it must pro- 
vide material equipment in a fellowship hall that may be 
used for a variety of purposes: for dining, for supervised 
play, for entertainments, for lectures, for dramatizations. It 
is not simply that such provision attracts to the church, and 
holds there, both young and old. They are being edueated 
religiously through their social and recreational activities. 

In a large chureh building, there will be provided a second- 
ary auditorium for lectures, entertainments, pageants, and 
dramatizations, and a fellowship hall for dining and for 
supervised play activities of various kinds; but, in the great 
majority of church groups, there will be no secondary audi- 
torium, and the fellowship hall will need to be adapted to 
all these uses. 

It is possible to conduct, in such a room, a program of ae- 
tivities that will enrich personality, train in cooperation, de- 
velop mutual appreciation, and promote religious health. 


This room is not adapted to distinctively school uses, and 
74 


THE FELLOWSHIP HALL 75 


no part of the school of the church should meet in it, except 
under ihe pressure of extreme economy. If any part of the 
school must be held there, let it be a class of adults. 

If possible, this fellowship hall should not be a basement 





FELLOWSHIP HALL, UNITY CHURCH, MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY 


room. Basements are unattractive and expensive in up- 
keep. They are desirable only for storage and for heating 
plants, usually. When there is lot-space available, this room 
should be wholly above ground. It will cost but little, if 
any, more there than under ground, and it will be vastly more 
suitable for all the purposes for which it is designed. 


76 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Some of the objections to basements are: lack of adequate 
ventilation; the twenty-seven steps down, when there is a 
ceiling height of sixteen feet; the considerable cost of water- 
proofing; and the expense of floor construction above, unless 
posts are used. A basement room is less objectionable if 
it is more than half above ground, and is properly constructed. 

In some buildings, the fellowship hall can be constructed 
more economically, and can be made more attractive in ap- 
pearance, if it is a top-floor room. Dormer windows and un- 
covered beams may become decorative features. In any ease, 
wherever placed and however constructed, this room should 
be as attractive as is consistent with reasonable economy and 
the uses for which it is designed. 


ATHLETIC PROVISIONS 


If the fellowship hall is to be used for basket-ball, it will 
need to have a clear floor-space of at least forty by sixty feet, 
with a clear ceiling height of sixteen feet; and it will be an 
advantage if additional floor-space can be provided, to allow 
room for spectators. In a room of sufficient size, it is de- 
sirable to provide galleries for spectators; and, in this case, 
the eciling height will need to be at least twenty feet. If 
a basket-ball court in a chureh plant is standard and satis- 
factory in every respect, it can become an attractive and 
raluable religious educational asset. 

In the construction of a room to be used for basket-ball, and 
for volley-ball, hand-ball, indoor baseball and other such 
eames, the windows and lights should be protected by heavy 
mesh-wire guards, the wainscoting should be of salt glazed 
brick of light color, and the floor should be of maple or some 
other suitable wood on sleepers. The floor should never be 


THE FELLOWSHIP HALL Ta 


of conerete, as it is dangerous in any room used for athletic 
games and drills. 

It is only within the last hundred years that the educational 
value of play has come to be recognized; and it is only in 
recent years that its religious and moral possibilities have 
come to be appreciated. 

We are coming to see that our pupils of the church school, 
in properly supervised play, may be trained in self-control, 
sustained effort, persistence, self-respect, cooperation, for- 
bearance, tolerance, appreciation, loyalty, courtesy, fair play, 
consideration, sympathy, helpfulness, leadership, thinking, 
and physical and moral cleanliness. 

In addition to the direct benefits to be derived from such 
play, there is being developed in the pupils, by indirect sug- 
gestion, certain desirable attitudes toward the church, the 
church school, Christianity, others, self. 

The emotional reactions of the play life will be associated 
throughout the years that follow with all the pupil’s think- 
ing about the chureh and will color his estimate of its 
value. 


PROVISION FOR DRAMATIZATIONS 


If the fellowship hall is to be used for dramatizations and 
pageants, provision will need to be made for stage and dress- 
ing rooms, in addition to the minimum length of sixty feet 
required for basket-ball. According to the size of the room, 
the stage will need to be from fifteen to thirty feet wide, from 
fifteen to thirty feet in depth, and from two and a half to 
four feet high. On each side of the proscenium opening 
of the stage, there should be a width of from ten to 
twenty feet, for dressing rooms, assembling of parti- 


78 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


cipants, moving scenery, lighting purposes, and the lke. 

The back of the stage should not be the outside wall of 
the building, but should be a wooden partition, har- 
monizing with the general decorative scheme, with passage- 








KENNETH MACLEISH HALL, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, EVANSTON, 
ILLINOIS 


way behind it. <A set of movable risers should be provided, 
for use on the stage for accommodating a chorus or 
other large group. Provision should be made for curtain 
hangings. There should be a fireproofed draw curtain. Scen- 
ery with a minimum of constructed parts and a maximum of 


THE FELLOWSHIP HALL ag 


lighting effects, and modern equipment, lending itself to the 
greatest amount of flexibility, is most desirable. 

The following is a summary of suggestions regarding the 
stage and its equipment, taken from ‘‘Drama in Edueation,’’ 
by Grace Sloan Overton: (1) An important consideration 
in stage building is visibility. A sight line drawn from every 
seat in the auditorium should give a clear view of the entire 
stage. Often the stage is elevated unduly to overcome the lack 
of direct sight lines. This is not an assistance, but, on the 
contrary, it makes the spectator tilt his head at an uncom- 
fortable angle. It also makes the player appear abnormally 
tall; and, as he moves toward the back of the stage, the 
lower part of his body is concealed. The height of the stage 
from the floor should be from three to four feet. (2) The 
stage is popularly regarded as the space on which the actors 
appear. As a matter of fact, this space should be only a 
small part of the stage. The width of the proscenium open- 
ing should be about half of the width of the auditorium, al- 
though this proportion may be varied somewhat. Consid- 
erations of production demand in the ordinary auditorium a 
proscenium opening at least twenty-four feet in width. In 
height the proscenium opening should be in proportion to 
the width, about half as high as wide. Thus a proscenium 
of twenty-four feet should be about twelve feet high. If a 
proscenium is too low, it will throw human figures out of 
proportion to their surroundings. (3) Hard wood should 
never be used for stage floors. Instead, soft wood, into which 
pegs and nails bite easily, should be used. (4) The purpose 
of scenery is two-fold: first, to furnish a suitable and _ har- 
monious background of color; second, to suggest unerringly, 
but with no superfluity of detail, the character of surround- 
ing in which the action of the play transpires. Scenery is 


80 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


not for the purpose of decoration. It should be so much a 
matter of accompaniment to the play that the attention of the 
audience is not directed to it, but to the matter at hand—the 
action of the play. Scenery is intended to suggest atmosphere 
and create illusion, which does not mean that an audience is to 
mistake a stage for something else, but that it shall become 
so absorbed in what it sees on the stage that the world of 
reality ceases to intrude itself. Scenery that is too realistic 
suggests artificiality. The purpose is to suggest, not to rep- 
resent. (5) The most vital part of the stage machine is 
lighting. It is the only part in which any mystery is in- 
volved. Certain types of visual beauty may be achieved only 
through light. Light illuminates the stage and the actors; 
it states the hour, the season, the weather, by suggesting 
natural light effects; it helps paint the scenes by manipu- 
lation of masses of light and shadow and by heightening 
color values; it lends rehef to actors and to the plastic ele- 
ments of the scene, making both seem alive; it helps act 
the play, by symbolizing its meanings and reinforcing its 
psychology. 


FACILITIES FOR DINING 


In planning the fellowship hall from the standpoint of 
dining facilities, there should be an allowance of ten square 
feet per person to be served. It is desirable to have standard 
dining-room chairs of attractive appearance and durable con- 
struction. Single folding-chairs of substantial construction 
may be provided, if economy is a prime consideration. 
Table and chairs, when not in use, may be stored under the 
stage platform, and in closets especially provided. 

There should be a commodious, well-equipped kitchen and 


THE FELLOWSHIP HALL 81 


serving room adjacent to the fellowship hall, and it should 
have a floor area of from one-eighth to one-fourth the area 
of the larger room. It should have separate outside service 
entrance. The kitchen should be equipped with a range 





KITCHEN 


of adequate size, and with gas plates, where possible; with 
large kettles and other necessary utensils for cooking for large 
groups; with sinks, hot and cold water, electric dishwashers, 
draining racks, and the like; with table for scraping dirty 
dishes, with garbage receptacle underneath; with cupboards 
for dishes and silver and linen; with refrigerator equip- 


82 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


ment; with vegetable storage; and with electric potato-paring 
machines, electric cream freezers, and any other needed 
facilities. 





SERVING ROOM 


THE FELLOWSHIP: HALL 83 


There should be a serving space between the kitehen and 
the dining room. Waiters should not enter the kitehen, but 
should receive all supplies in their serving room. This serv- 
ing room should be of ample size for quick, convenient service, 
with broad, long serving-counters, across which the waiters 
are served. Two one-way swing doors between serving room 
and dining room, with kick-plates and glass panels, are essen- 
tial. In some eases, the serving-counters connect the kitchen 
immediately with the dining room, but this arrangement is not 
to be recommended, since there are thus admitted to the 
dining room the kitchen sights and sounds and odors. An 
after-dinner program may be seriously interfered with by the 
dish cleaning in an adjoining kitchen. 


VARIOUS OTHER PROVISIONS 


The various rooms of the school portions of the chureh 
building should be used for all the graded, departmentalized 
social and recreational activities for which they are adapted, 
but it may be advisable to provide also, in addition to the 
fellowship hall, and near it, a Boy Scouts’ room, a Camp 
Fire Girls’ room, and a men’s club room, for activities that 
are not practicable in the school rooms. 

Adjacent to the fellowship hall, it will be necessary to 
provide ventilated, steel lockers in three separate spaces, that 
is, one for men, one for boys, and one for women and girls. 
Shower-baths are a practical necessity, as violent physical 
exercise not followed by a bath and rub-down is neither san- 
itary nor safe, especially in cold weather. Open-shower room 
without stalls and partitions is used for men and boys, but 
separate showers with dressing rooms combined are desirable 
for women and girls. 


84 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


In connection with showers, hot and cold water should be 
provided at each shower at all times, and this requires care- 
ful consideration when plumbing is installed. Hot water 
storage capacity should be provided sufficient to sup- 
ply all showers every one-half hour. Heater capacity should 
be carefully studied. Separate hot and cold water valves 
are quite satisfactory, instead of expensive mixing valves, 
provided tempering valve is installed to cool all hot water 
supplied to showerheads to one hundred and fifty degrees. 
Toilet facilities should be provided adjacent to shower and 
locker rooms. 

Bowling alleys constitute a desirable feature in many church 
plants. Two alleys will require a space of eleven and a half 
feet in width, and an additional space of five feet nine inches 
for each additional alley. The length must be eighty-three 
feet, plus gallery space at rear, with bank of seats for specta- 
tors and for contestants in tournaments. 

A swimming pool is not an essential feature in a recrea- 
tional building, but is desirable in some communities, if the 
church ean afford the cost of its construction and up-keep. 
It should be at least twenty by sixty feet in size. It requires 
provision for sanitary maintenance, through frequent and 
adequate cleansing of the pool, through a thorough steriliza- 
tion of the water, and through the sterilization and laun- 
dering of swimming suits and towels. It is essential also 
that there be constant supervision of the pool while in use. 

An important provision in connection with a fellowship 
hall that is used to any extent for games and supervised play 
is a recreational director’s office, so located as to control all 
athletic rooms and the swimming pool, and provided with 
first-aid supplies and other equipment. 


THE FELLOWSHIP HALL 85 


The equipment of the fellowship hall may include a moving- 
picture machine booth and spotlight provisions. 


SUMMARY OF SUGGESTIONS 


1. Character is most clearly revealed and most profoundly in- 
fluenced during the hours of leisure, and it is imperative that the 
church lay hold of the recreational hfe of the community, and pro- 
vide for it incentive and direction and supervision. 

2. As a material aid in Christianizing the recreational life of 
the community, the church needs to provide for itself a fellow- 
ship hall, which may be used for dining, for supervised play, for 
entertainments, for dramatizations, for lectures, and for various 
other purposes. In some large church buildings, a part of these 
activities will be provided for in a secondary chureh auditorium. 

3. Not only is such provision a potent means of attracting and 
holding both young and old, but it makes possible a program of 
social and recreational activities that are in themselves educational 
and developmental. 

4. The fellowship hall is but little, if any, more expensive and 
is vastly more attractive when it is built wholly on top of the 
ground, instead of as a basement. 

5. If this room is to be used for basket-ball, as well as for other 
athletie activities, it should have a floor-space that is at Jeast 
forty by sixty feet, with a clear ceiling height of s:xteen feet. 

6. If the fellowship hall is to be used for dramatizations and 
pageants, provision will need to be made for stage and dressing 
rooms, in addition to the minimum length of sixty feet for basket- 
ball. 

7. In planning the fellowship hall from the standpoint of dining 
facilities, there should be an allowance of ten square feet of floor- 
space per person to be served. 

8. There should be a commodious, well-equipped kitchen and 
serving room adjacent to the fellowship hall, and it should have a 


86 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


floor area of about one-eighth to one-fourth that of the larger room. 
9. Near the fellowship hall, there should be lockers, showers, 
toilets, a recreational director’s: room, and such other facilities as 
may be deemed advisable. 
10. Bowling alleys will constitute a desirable feature in many 
church plants; a swimming pool is practicable’ only in the ex- 
ceptional community. 


CHAPTER VIII 
PROCEDURE IN BUILDING 


NEW church building usually has its beginning in the 

thought and desire and vision of some individual. 
Some one takes the initial step. This one may be the pastor 
of the church; it may. be the superintendent, or director of 
religious edueation ; it may be a Sunday-school teacher ; it may 
be a church official; it may be a visitor, who calls attention 
to the need. 


Tur First STEprs 


This one interested individual gets a few others interested. 
Then these few interested individuals bring about the first 
official step, namely, the appointment by the official board 
or in a chureh congregational meeting, according to the busi- 
ness practices of the denomination with which the church is 
connected, of a building council, authorized to expend a few 
hundred dollars, if the church is small and weak, or a few 
thousand dollars, if the church is large, in finding out ex- 
actly what are the building needs of the church, and just 
how and at about what cost these can be met, and then to 
report back to the official board or congregational meeting 
their findings. 

This building council should be composed of fifteen repre- 


sentative members of the church, and the pastor as ex officio 
87 


88 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


member. The members of this council should be chosen on 
the basis of interest and fitness, selection being made from 
all the boards and organizations within the church, and care 
being exercised to include the younger and more progressive 
members of the church. No building council ever should 
consist solely of the ‘‘official board.’’ 

A church with which the authors have had dealings, re- 
cently, selected the fifteen members of its building council 
as follows: Two from the official board; two from the 
trustees; two from the church school; two from the women’s 
aid society; two from the women’s missionary society; one 
from the men’s club; one from the young people’s society ; 
one from the Boy Seouts; one from the Girl Scouts; and one 
from the congregation at large. 

The second step to be taken in building procedure is for 
this building couneil to hold an early meeting, and to organ- 
ize, by electing a chairman and secretary, and to divide itself 
into a building comnuttee, a finance committee and a publicity 
committee, with five members on each committee, and the 
pastor as ex officio member of each. The chairman of the 
council and the three committee chairmen, with the pastor, 
may constitute the executive committee of the building coun- 
cil. 

The third step is for the council to instruet the building 
committee to act first as a preliminary comnuttee on mvesti- 
gation, and to report back to the building council. 

The preliminary work of this committee will be two-fold, 
namely, to prepare a program, and then to have developed 
tentative sketch plans for the housing of this program. Noth- 
ing else needs to be considered until these two things are 
done. Until a program is prepared and plans are developed, 
it is worse than useless to talk about how the building ought 


PROCEDURE IN BUILDING 89 


to look, or what it will cost, or of what materials it will be 
constructed. 

This two-fold preliminary task is one that cannot be in- 
telligently performed by the committee alone, or by any av- 
erage practicing architect alone, however efficient he may 
be as an architect. Architects do not consider that it is 
part of their work, usually, to build programs for organiza- 
tions, but only to see that they get what they want in the 
way of building facilities, after it is determined just what 
is wanted. 


SECURING EXPERT ASSISTANCE 


The very first thing, therefore, for this committee to under- 
take is the employment of an expert adviser or advisers. 
There are two classes of specialists today who have made 
a thorough-going study of the whole chureh-building situa- 
tion, who are familiar with the more recent educational 
theory and practice, who have had wide experience in plan- 
ning church buildings that include adequate educational and 
recreational facilities, and who are competent, therefore, to 
render expert service to church committees that desire to build 
wisely, in the light of the best experience. 

On the one hand, there are specialists in religious edu- 
cation, some of them connected with educational institutions 
and others working independently. On the other hand, there 
are specialists in church architecture who are officially con- 
nected with bureaus, or departments, of architecture, es- 
tablished during the last few years by various denominational 
boards, in order to render a church-building, specialized ser- 
vice to their constituencies. These departments are perform- 
ing a service that is essentially educational, as well as 


90 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


professional, and their activities have met with grateful ac- 
ceptance by the churches. Through the efforts of these 
agencies, many millions of dollars already have been wisely 
expended by churches in erecting worthy church structures, 
with modern educational and recreational facilities as well 
as suitable echureh auditoriums. 

The committee, therefore, will do well to engage the services 
of an educational adviser and also to consult its church de- 
partment of architecture. Both will serve both the church 
and the executive architect. 

An edueational adviser saved a church twenty thousand 
dollars, and at the same time helped it to secure a far better 
building than it would have been able to secure without his 
assistance. Another saved a church one hundred thousand 
dollars, after three different sets of plans had been developed, 
and with a resulting building that delighted everybody con- 
cerned. In another case, the adviser was able to reconcile the 
conflicting opinions that existed in the committee, to help the 
committee and then the whole church to agree quickly on 2 
satisfactory solution of their building problem, and to inspire 
them to build a hundred and twenty thousand dollar strue- 
ture, in the face of the fact that they had already decided that 
sixty thousand dollars was their limit. Again, this adviser 
was able to show the members of a committee, in another 
smaller church, how they eould secure better provisions for 
their needs than those which had been planned and at a 
eost of four thousand dollars less. 

Out of his wider experience, the educational adviser is 
able to assist the church in providing adequate facilities 
for its edueational and recreational programs without in 
any way neglecting worthy provisions for its worship pro- 
oram. 


PROCEDURE IN BUILDING 21 


ARCHITECTURAL BUREAUS 


A representative of a bureau of architecture was called 
into consultation by a building committee, and, in their first 
conference, made a suggestion regarding the moving and 
utilizing of a public-school building which they were then 
using that saved the church twenty thousand dollars. On 
another occasion, this adviser was able to convince the build- 
ing committee that their present inside lot was not well 
located, and that it was too small on which to build adequately 
and economically; that the auditorium which they had in 
mind was entirely too large for their probable, needs, and 
that it would be too expensive in construction and up-keep; 
and that the educational and recreational portions of their 
plant were wholly inadequate as planned, and did not em- 
body in any degree the wealth of accumulated experiences 
of recent years. 

Another representative of a bureau of architecture found 
a committee the members of which seemed to be possessed of 
very decided opinions of what was needed in the way of a 
church building, but who seemed to be unable to produce 
facts to substantiate their opinions. They became somewhat 
impatient under his persistent questionings; but he persisted 
in getting at the facts; and, later, they were very grateful 
to him. Soon after he began to question them, they began 
to sense the seriousness of their task and to realize some of the 
difficulties in the situation. 

He insisted on knowing the size of the actual membership 
of the chureh, with the average attendance at preaching 
services, and the percentage of membership increase during 
the last five years; the enrolment of the Sunday school and 
the actual average attendance by departments for a year, 


92 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


with an intelligent estimate of the probable growth to be 
provided for; the size of the population of the community 
within a radius of one mile, with estimation of growth in 
recent years and the probabilities of growth in the future; 
the character of the population in the locality of the present 
building; what other churches were in the same community, 
and what groups they were serving and how; what near-by 
pubhe institutions there were in the neighborhood ministering 
to community welfare; an outline of the church’s proposed 
work; choir accommodations desired; the character and size 
and location and value of present buildings, with data as 
to lot measurements and values; information with regard 
to near-by buildings; and other pertinent facts. 

Soon the committee got down to business, and, with the 
assistance of the adviser, was able to prepare a program in- 
telligently, and then the planning could begin. The adviser 
was then able to develop and present illustrative, tentative 
sketch-plans, showing how the desired program might fune- 
tion, how the capacity requirements for each activity might 
be obtained, and how all portions of the proposed structure 
might be properly coordinated. 

Thus do these educational and architectural advisers as- 
sist the church in solving, in a distinctive, adequate way, its 
building problem; and then they go farther and assist the 
building committee in educating the building council, and, 
later, the whole church, into an acceptance and an apprecia- 
tion of this solution. They unselfishly and consistently work 
for the interests of the church. They help the bwilding com- 
mittee and the architect to understand each other and to 
work together effectively. They interpret to each the ideals 
and aims of the other. 

Mr. A. F. Wickes, Advisory Architect, Bureau of Archi- 


PROCEDURE IN BUILDING 93 


tecture of the Disciples of Christ, well says: ‘‘When a church 
once makes connection with a bureau of architecture it ought 
to keep in touch with this bureau until final revision of plans, 
and until the building is erected and furnished, if it expects 
to receive the full benefits of such connection. Sometimes, 
a church will ask a representative of the bureau to visit it, 
and will secure preliminary sketches from his organization, 
and will then turn these over to a local architect, and fail to 
come back to the bureau for a continuance of the specialized 
service which it is able to render. It is not simply that the 
church is cheating itself, in failing to avail itself to the fullest 
of the advice and service of its denominational bureau of 
architecture, but that it is failing to meet its larger church 
fellowship responsibilities in not faithfully representing the 
Christian ministry as taught and interpreted by its denomi- 
nation, or fellowship. The planning and building of a church 
plant is too important and difficult for any local church or 
local church board to earry through alone, building what 
a few individuals think they need, without taking into account 
the vision and wisdom of its official denominational representa- 
tives.’’ 


OTHER Steps To TAKE 


The first three steps in intelligent procedure in church 
building have been taken. The building committee that was 
appointed by the building council has secured expert as- 
sistance in preparing a program and in developing tentative 
plans. The fourth step is the report of this committee to 
the building council and the reaching of a council decision 
as to whether or not the church ought to proceed to build, 
or, at least, to launch a campaign for funds, in order to as- 


94 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


certain whether or not it is practicable to build. Lantern 
shdes in connection with this report, showing the plans and 
the appearance of the proposed building, will be found help- 
ful. 

The fifth step in procedure will be the presentation of the 
report of the building committee, with the action of the build- 
ing council, to the official board or congregational meeting 
for official church adoption. 

If the recommendations of the building council are adopted 
and the church decision is to launch a financial campaign, 
then, as the sixth step, the building council should be em- 
powered to proceed accordingly. 

The seventh step is the employment of an architect. This 
will be done by the building council, on the recommendation 
of the building committee. 

The building committee should consult the special advisers 
with regard to architects and certainly should choose for rec- 
ommendation the best available architect, preferably one 
who has had suecessful experience in connection with churech- 
building plants of the newer type. Usually, it is not wise 
to choose an architect who is a member of the church that is 
building. 

Whatever the size of the church, a reputable, competent 
architect should be employed, and he should be paid the 
standard fee, which is a reasonable compensation for the 
type of service which the architect renders. In fact, a com- 
petent church architect ought to receive, for drawings, speci- 
fications and supervision, at least ten per cent of the cost of 
the building, instead of the usual five to seven per cent. A 
real estate agent receives from five to ten per cent for selling 
a piece of property. For any church to undertake to econo- 


PROCEDURE IN BUILDING 95 


‘‘penny wise and pound foolish.’’ <A 


mize on architects is 
““cheap’’ architect can easily cost the church many times the 
amount which he ‘‘saves’’ it, through inexperience, through 
incompetency, or through inattention. 

Any ‘“‘shopping around’? among architects or the asking 
of several competing architects to submit plans for the con- 
sideration of the committee is exceedingly bad church busi- 
ness. No architect should be asked to draw any plans until 
he has been engaged as architeet for the church. When 
several competing plans are presented to the committee, it 
may be that the most ‘‘showy’’ one will meet with favor, 
though it may not be at all suited to the particular, dis- 
tinctive needs of the church. If it should be decided that an 
architectural competition is advisable, it should be conducted 
in accordance with the rules and regulations of the American 
Institute cf Architects, and each competitor should be paid 
a reasonable fee for his sketches. 

As soon as an architect is retained by the buildin@ council, 
the building committee should put into his hands the pro- 
eram that has been prepared and the tentative plans that have 
been adopted by the church, and then this committee and the 
advisers should cooperate with him sympathetically and 
thoughtfully, until all concerned are satisfied as to plans 
and exterior treatment and building materials, and all other 
pertinent features, and until the building is erected. One 
member of the building committee should be chosen by it to 
represent it in all its dealings with the architect. If this 
is not done, and the architect is compelled to deal with 
more than one individual, there will result more or less 
of confusion, misunderstanding, and loss of time and 


money. 


$6 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


SUMMARY OF SUGGESTIONS 


In order to earry through a building enterprise successfully, the 
church should create a building council, to be composed of a 
building committee, a finance committee, and a publicity committee, 
with a total membership of fifteen representative individuals, and 
the pastor as member ex officio. (1) The building committee should 
prepare a program and secure tentative sketch plans, through the 
assistance of expert advisers; should report their findings to the 
building council and then to the church; should recommend a com- 
petent architect to the building council; should present program 
and tentative sketch plans to the architect when chosen; should 
cooperate with the advisers and the architect in the perfecting of 
the plans; should recommend the letting of contracts; should in- 
spect the construction of buildings; should supervise the installa- 
tion of permanent equipment; and should submit to the finance 
committee all bills as they fall due. (2) The finance committee 
should make a study of successful methods of financing chureh- 
building enterprises; should prepare and secure the adoption of a 
financial program by the building council; should prepare sub- 
seription forms, and provide for accounting; should enlist and train 
canvassers; should conduct subscription campaigns; should finance 
building project during construction and collection; and should eol- 
lect subscriptions. (3) The publicity committee should make 
known the nature and advantages of the program and the plans; 
should prepare and distribute a prospectus preliminary to subserip- 
tion campaign; should advertise the program of the finance com- 
mittee; should report, from time to time, on the progress of the 
financial campaign; should keep the public informed with regard 
to the letting of contracts and the construction of the building; 
should make known the plans for dedication; should, in short, ex- 
ercise initiative and persistence in commending the building project 
to the church and community. 


CHAPTER IX 
FINANCING CHURCH .BUILDING 


ONEY can be raised for the building of a church struc- 

ture more easily than for almost anything else for which 
the church solicits contributions. A campaign for funds 
for the erection of a church building appeals to self-interest, 
church interest, community interest, denominational interest, 
and religious interest. These five interests constitute a basis 
for appeal that will spell suecess for a building campaign 
in almost any normal community, if the campaign is properly 
organized and promoted. 


PREPARATION FOR CAMPAIGN 


Much of the success of a campaign for funds will depend 
on the steps of procedure, as deseribed in the preceding 
chapter. If people are to give intelligently and _ liberally 
they must know what they are giving to. It is not enough 
to be giving simply for the building of a church structure. 
That is too indefinite. That may mean much or it may 
mean little. 

Every one who is asked to contribute to a church-building 
enterprise ought to be able to visualize the proposed building 
in its exterior appearance and in its interior provisions. 
He should have developed within himself a vivid sense of 
reality with regard to the new structure, so that he can see 

97 


98 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


what he is giving toward. This mental picture should be made 
attractive to him, through a campaign of education, until 
he will want to have a part in transforming the picture into 
reality. 

All this means that several months, and it may be many 
months, have been spent in intelligent, thorough-going prepar- 
ation before ever a word is said to anybody about money. 
It means, in the first place, that the church appointed a 
building couneil, with a view to finding out exactly what 
were its actual building needs; it means, in the second place, 
that this council, through its building committee, employed 
expert educational and architectural advisers to assist it in 
this undertaking; it means, in the third place, that the build- 
ing committee and the advisers made a survey of the situa- 
tion, and prepared a program of activities around which a 
plan could be developed; it means, in the fourth place, that 
the advisers developed tentative sketch floor-plans with pro- 
visions to meet the determined needs; it means, in the fifth 
place, that the building committee then made full report to 
the council and the church, both of which voted approval; 
it means, in the sixth place, that the church empowered its 
building council to proceed accordingly; it means, in the 
seventh place, that the best architect available was definitely 
employed by the building council, on the recommendation of 
the building committee; it means, in the eighth place, that 
the building committee placed in the hands of the architect 
the program and the plans which they had developed; it 
means, in the ninth place, that the architect, in consultation 
with the special advisers, worked on floor-plans until all the 
members of the building council were satisfied that the best 
possible solution of the building problem had been reached ; 
it means, in the tenth place, that the architect prepared, for 


FINANCING CHURCH BUILDING 28) 


the plans committee, black and white floor-plans in simple 
outline and a perspective showing how the chureh building 
would appear when completed; it means, in the eleventh 
place, that the publicity committee had printed and distrib- 
uted an attractive bulletin, or prospectus, with pictures of 
floor-plans and perspective, and with interesting description 
of the various facilities contemplated in the new church 
structure; it means, in the twelfth place, that the publicity 
committee has promoted newspaper and other kinds of help- 
ful advertising; it means, in the thirteenth place, that the 
finance committee has held a number of committee meet- 
ings, has been studying methods of raising money, has been 
enlisting and training canvassers, and has developed a plan, 
or program, for raising money; it means, in the fourteenth 
place, that the financial program that was recommended by 
the finance committee has been approved by the building 
council as a whole; it means, in the fifteenth place, that the 
finance committee has had subscription forms printed, has 
prepared a classified list of prospects, has arranged for 
methods of accounting, and is now ready to conduct the sub- 
scription campaign. 


THE FINANCIAL PROGRAM 


The financial program recommended by the finance com- 
mittee and adopted by the building council as a whole may 
include any one of the following plans: 

(1) Three-year subscription plan. Blanks are prepared 
ealling for subscriptions covering a period of three years, 
to be paid in annual, semi-annual, quarterly, monthly, or 
weekly payments, as the subscriber may indicate. This plan 
is particularly desirable for a church whose constituency 


100 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


consists chiefly of people of comparatively small means. A 
man might give a dollar a week for three years, or a total 
of $156.00, toward a building enterprise who could not give 
a total of $25.00 in eash. If five individuals give $5.00 a 
week each, for three years, a total of $3,900.00; and ten give 
$2.50 each, a total of $3,900.00; and twenty give $2.00 each, 
a total of $6,240.00; and forty give $1.00 each, a total of 
$6,240.00 ; and eighty give fifty cents each, a total of $6,240.00; 
and one hundred and sixty give twenty-five cents each, a 
total of $6,240.00; then the total amount given by 315 people 
in three years is $32,760.00. Thus a small church in a poor 
community could raise a sufficient amount of money to pro- 
vide for its building needs. A larger church or a wealthier 
one could raise, with this plan, correspondingly larger 
amounts. 

(2) Cash and notes plan. A careful estimate is made in 
advance of the number who may be expected to give $10,000.00 
each, the number who may give $5,000.00 each, the number 
who may give $1,000.00 each, the number who may give 
$500.00 each, the number who may give $100.00 each, and 
so on; and then each of these individuals is asked to give the 
amount designated, either in cash or in a note payable at 
some future date. The notes may be discounted at the bank, 
and the money used. 

(3) Bonded property plan. First and second mortgage 
bonds are issued on the church property, the second mortgage 
bonds being sold to the members and friends of the church, 
and the first mortgage bonds being used as collateral at the 
banks from which money is borrowed. The bonds are issued 
by a trust company, acting as trustee for the ehurch; and 
they are ‘‘on or before 12 years’’ bonds, bearing six per 
cent interest semi-annually, and bearing coupons. Bonds 


FINANCING CHURCH BUILDING 101 


are retired by subscriptions to building fund, covering a 
term of years, the total subscriptions being large enough to 
take care of interest payments and to liquidate the bonds 
before they run out. 

(4) Designated gifts plan. In a church in whose member- 
ship there is considerable wealth, the plan of asking certain in- 
dividuals to pay for designated portions of the church strue- 
ture has met with suecess. In one church, two members 
gave $100,000.00 for the church auditorium, a third gave 
$25,000.00 for the organ, a fourth gave $10,000.00 for the 
primary unit of the school building, a fifth gave $10,000.00 
for the junior unit of the school building, a sixth gave 
$10,000.00 for the heating plant, a seventh gave $5,000.00 for 
the kitchen, an eighth gave $3,000.00 for the pastor’s study, 
and so on, until the whole amount of $350,000.00 was se- 
eured. A variation of this plan, even where comparatively 
small amounts are to be raised, is to ask the various organ- 
izations in the church to assume responsibility for paying 
for designated parts of the building. 

(5) Building and loan plan. Circles of eleven members 
each are organized to take out and carry building and loan 
stock as an investment for the church. Ten members in 
each circle pay monthly assessments, while the eleventh mem- 
ber, for his part, collects and makes payment for the stock. 

(6) Free-will offerings plan. Once a month, the members 
and friends of the church are asked to ‘‘come forward,’’ at 
the Sunday morning preaching service and lay their offerings 
for a new church building, in silver, gold, paper money, 
and checks, upon the table in front of the pulpit. 

(7) Public subscription plan. Where the amount to be 
raised is not large, it may be secured in a public meeting. 
In some eases a blackboard is used. This is marked off into 


102. BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


squares, each square representing a definite designated amount, 
as $25.00 or $50.00 or $100.00, and individuals are asked 
to ‘‘take’’ one or more squares. If the total amount is not 
raised in one meeting, subscriptions may be opened again 
at a later meeting. 


TRAINING THE CANVASSERS 


The financial program sponsored by the finance committee 
will not only include the presentation of a plan that seems 
best calculated to get results in the particular community, 
but it will include also the enlistment and organizing and 
training of a company of canvassers. 

These canvassers must be (1) fully informed both as to the 
building plans and the plan of raising money, (2) helped to 
become enthusiastic about the whole building enterprise, and 
asked to make their own pledges before soliciting others, (3) 
selected to work in pairs and furnished with lists of names 
and expected amounts, (4) supplied with suitable printed 
materials and pencils, (5) urged to expect to get what they 
oo after, (6) told to work with a smile and with a cheerful, 
friendly manner, (7) instructed to be patient and persistent, 
(8) told to refuse to accept a subscription that is patently too 
small for the ability of the giver, and to return later to try 
again for the larger amount, (9) directed to report at regu- 
lar, stated intervals, (10) led in prayer for success, and (11) 
drilled in the quiet, non-argumentative answering of an- 
ticipated objections. 

Some objections which the canvassers may be called on to 
answer are the following: 

(1) ‘‘I don’t like your building plans.’’ Show that they 
are the results of many conferences and of much thinking 


FINANCING CHURCH BUILDING 103 


by many people, and expert assistants; and explain the plans, 
giving reasons for the various facilities. 

(2) ‘‘I don’t believe in raising money in this way.’’ Ask 
him what plan he would prefer, and why. Show that this 
plan is a composite of much thinking by a number of in- 
terested individuals, and that it has succeeded elsewhere. 
If he is sincere, and is willing to give, make an exception of 
him, and let him give in his own way, as far as that is prac- 
ticable. 

(3) ‘*I don’t believe that this money will be raised.’’ 
Show him that the leaders in the church do, give reasons for 
this confidence, urge that it is worth trying to do, suggest 
that it can be done through the cooperation of all, and ask 
him to give, anyway. 

(4) ‘‘I can’t give money to build a house for the church 
while I am in debt.’’ Answer that others are doing it, that 
any forward step in the chureh would be impossible if 
everybody took that position, that it sometimes helps a man 
to pay his debts to give to a worthy Christian enterprise, 
and that all of us are in debt to the church and to God. 

(5) ‘‘I don’t like the pastor.’’ Answer that we are not 
building for the pastor, but for the church, and for the child- 
hood and youth of the community; also, pastors come and go, 
but this chureh building will be a permanent community 
asset. 

(6) ‘‘We have too many churches in the community.’’ 
That is probably true. How can we remedy the situation? 
Not by letting our church die. What can be done about it 
practically? Is any other church in the community equipped 
to do what our church is equipping itself to do? 

(7) ‘‘I shall have to think it over before I can make a 
subseription.’’ Suggest that the building project has been 


104 | BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


under consideration, in the church and community, for some 
time; but leave the matter with him, if you must, and return 
to the attack later. 


GENERAL SUGGESTIONS 


A few general suggestions may be stated as follows: 

(1) The church need not necessarily decide definitely to 
build before it launches a campaign for funds. It may vote 
to let contracts when a specified sum has been subscribed. 

(2) Only part of the entire structure may be built now 
and the other portions several years later, but the whole 
structure should be planned from the beginning, as far as 
that is possible. Working drawings need not be ordered 
until it is seen that the financial situation justifies the church 
in proceeding with the enterprise. 

(3) Churches need not be afraid of ineurring debts. 
Most churches that build must carry debts. If the debt 
is not disproportionately large, it will be an incentive to 
effort and a means of grace. Some churches would be saved 
from dying of inanition if they had the vision and courage 
and faith to incur a debt in the erection of an adequate church 
building. 

(4) The man who says, ‘‘This is not the time to build,’’ 
is speaking of every time that ever was for every church, but 
no church that values its soul ean afford to listen to him. 

(5) No church should ask for assistance from any out- 
side organization until it has demonstrated its own willing- 
ness and ability to give heroically. Nor should it make a 
general canvass of the people in the community until it has 
first canvassed thoroughly its own membership. 

(6) No building can in itself attract people and make a 


FINANCING CHURCH BUILDING 105 


church strong, of course, but a church that plans wisely ean 
function immeasurably better in a suitable church plant than 
in one that is inadequate. 

(7) The churches of a community should cooperate in 
providing proper building facilities, and should seek to avoid 
wasteful duplication. 

(8) Church buildings should be regarded as the most valu- 
able material assets of any community, and as its best ad- 
vertisements. 

(9) The largest gifts sometimes may be obtained quietly, 
by members of the finance committee, before the beginning 
of the organized canvass. 

(10) The campaign for funds may be launched, in some 
cases, at a supper, or at a Sunday morning service, with 
announcement of some large contribution, for the sake of 
its suggestive value and its inspiring effect upon the canvas- 
sers. Sometimes subscriptions are taken at this meeting. An 
outside speaker, as the guest of the evening, may be of material 
assistance. 

(11) It is a part of the duty of the finance committee to 
finance the building project during the process of erection 
and the collecting of subscriptions. In some eases, it will be 
necessary to borrow money on note subscriptions, on security 
of trustees, on mortgage on the church property, from some 
member of the church, or in some other way. 

(12) It will be a part of the duty of the publicity com- 
mittee to keep the public informed with regard to the financial 
campaign and progress in construction. Proper publicity 
will be a valuable asset. 

(13) In ease a weak church decides to ask financial assis- 
tance from a denominational board or other outside organiza- 
tion, it should present a detailed statement of needs with 


106 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


reasons for request, and should show exactly how it has 
reached the present limit of its own giving. 

(14) A echureh should handle all gifts for church building 
in a most business-like way, should have all accounts audited 
in accordance with approved business practices, should 
euard against dishonesty and incompetency and extravagance 
in connection with its building project, and should keep its 
property fully insured against loss by fire. 

(15) The pastor of the church may have to be the real 
leader in any building enterprise, though he may not assume 
the nominal leadership. It is seldom that he should be the 
chairman of the building council, but he should be a member 
ex officio, and, in exceptional cases, he may serve on one or 
more of the sub-committees. Usually, he will work with the 
building committee. He may or may not solicit subscriptions 
personally, depending on the church and the pastor. In any 
ease, he ought to be the chief factor in the whole building 
enterprise, making his leadership effective through sermons, 
through conferences, through personal interviews, and through 
talks with God. 


SUMMARY OF SUGGESTIONS 


1. The success of a financial campaign in the interests of a 
church-building project will depend on the nature and thorough- 
ness of the preparation that has preceded its launching. 

2. Before launching a financial campaign, it is necessary to 
secure expert educational and architectural assistance in determin- 
ing a program and in developing plans. 

3. The church’s program and the proposed plans for the housing 
of this program should be clearly understood and fully appreciated 
by all who are asked to contribute to the building project. 

4. If the financial plan adopted involves personal solicitation, 


FINANCING CHURCH BUILDING 107 


then a corps of canvassers, to work in pairs, must be enlisted and 
trained for the work, each canvasser making his pledge before 
scliciting others. 

5. Canvassers need to be informed, enthusiastic, equipped, eonfi- 
dent, cheerful, patient, courageous, prayerful, and skillful. 

6. Canvassers should be drilled in the quiet, non-argumentative 
answering of anticipated objections. 

7. The new church structure may be erected in sections, or units, 
according to financial ability and various other conditions. 

8. A church should be on its guard against over-building and 
getting into debt too deeply, but at the same time it should not be 
foolishly afraid to incur a debt of reasonable size, lest it miss an 
incitive means of grace. 

9. No church should ask any outside organization for assistance 
until it has demonstrated its own willingness to give heroically. 

10. The pastor usually will need to assume the quiet, determined 
leadership of the whole building enterprise, if it is to attain the 
largest success, 


CHAPTER X 
THIRTY-EIGHT SUGGESTIONS 


S supplementary to the discussion of the many phases 

of planning and building for religious education in 
connection with a church structure, some additional sug- 
gestions, arranged alphabetically, are presented in this chap- 
ter. 

Architects. The whole matter of the selection of an archi- 
tect has had consideration in Chapter VIII. The following 
from Rev. Elbert M. Conover, of the Bureau of Architecture 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, may be added: ‘‘Let 
the architect be a man of education, a man whose integrity 
is beyond question, and a man who shows by his environment 
and his manner of living that he is truly in sympathy with 
the ideals for which the church exists. No more absurd 
method of selecting an architect can be imagined than that 
of askine several architects to submit sketches with a view 
to selecting as architect that man whose sketch is most pleas- 
ing to the committee. The cleverest architect who can most 
nearly guess what is in the committee’s mind, and who is 
most willing to play upon their prejudices and preconceptions, 
will always win in such a competition; and the thoughtful, 
able architect who will strive by patient effort to understand 
his problem and solve it, not superficially, but thoroughly, 
is invariably at a great disadvantage.’’ 

Architecture. The whole church structure should be 

108 


THIRTY-EIGHT SUGGESTIONS 109 


churchly, unmistakably indicating its intended uses, both 
externally and internally. It should be characterized by 
dignity and beauty. Even an inexpensive building may be 
made substantial by a proper choice of materials, artistic 





MAIN AUDITORIUM, FIRST CHURCH, CHESTNUT HILL, MASS, 


by a right proportion of lines and masses, and suggestive of 
its religious uses by a form of structure which does not have 
to be labeled. Professor Joseph Hudnut, School of Archi- 
tecture, Columbia University, says: ‘‘To me the architect, 
no less than the preacher, is a minister—and as badly needed 
in our religion. Like musie and oratory, his art is addressed 
to the heart no less than to the senses; and I think that the 


110 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


religious leaders of this country, and in particular the leaders 
of the Protestant churches, are much to blame because they 
have failed to appreciate the true intentions and the true 
value of the artist, to recognize him, not as an adversary, 
nor yet as a servant, but as a co-worker and friend.’’ 

Auditorium: The church auditorium ‘should seat an 
audience in comfort and suitably for seeing and hearing the 
speaker and the choir; and it should be pleasing in its pro- 
portions, its finish, its decorations, and its furnishings. The 
consensus of intelligent opinion favors a room that is oblong 
in form, about one-third longer than wide, with the pulpit at 
one end, so that the maximum number of the auditors may 
be as nearly in front of the speaker as possible, and in order 
that they may have developed in them a sense of controlled 
symmetry, of simple dignity, of enduring solidity, and of 
refreshing serenity, while, at the same time, they are least 
conscious of their surroundings, and can most easily and 
unreservedly enter into the spirit and power of the ser: 
mon and the worship. Neither the semi-circular nor octag- 
onal form of room is to be recommended. The placing of 
the pulpit on the long side of an oblong room or in the 
corner of a square room is decidedly inadvisable. In an 
auditorium that seats as many as eight hundred on the main 
floor, there may be galleries, or balconies, on three sides, with 
stairways connecting the side galleries with the floor at the 
foot of the pulpit. In a smaller auditorium, there may be a 
eallery across the rear end. The laws of acoustics are now 
known, and perfect acoustics in an auditorium can be as- 
sured before construction. See Chapter VI, 

Basements. Basements in church plants are not to be ree- 
ommended, except for boiler rooms, coal pits, and ventilating 
apparatus. If the fellowship hall is a basement room, the 


THIRTY-EIGHT SUGGESTIONS Lil 


depth below grade should not exeeed three feet. Conerete 
floors in a basement fellowship hall are not advisable. In 
a building with a basement to be used as a play-room or 
drill-room, safety against bodily injury and hygiene re- 





STEWARDS’ ROOM, WASHINGTON M. E. CHURCH, PETERSBURG, VA. 


quire that it should not have a cement floor. Falling on such 
a surface is dangerous; and the cement wearing off while the 
children are playing or marching, fills the air with a heavy 
dust that is especially deleterious. The floor should be of 
asphalt or some hard wood. Foundation walls and_ floors 
inclosing such a basement should be water-proofed. Where 
there is no excavation below the first floor of a building, pro- 


112 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


vision should be made for thorough and constant ventilation 
‘beneath. 

Beginners. The beginners need from one to seven rooms, 
according to the size of the department. If there are more 
than twenty-five children, there should be at least two rooms, 
since more than that number cannot be handled to advantage 
in a single group. Some workers want three rooms for 
twenty-five children, the largest room being used for the 
circle work, and the two smaller rooms being used for table 
work. The general requirement is that there shall be at least 
one room for every twenty-five children, allowing twelve to 
fifteen square feet of floor-space for each child. There should 
be no door connecting the beginners’ rooms immediately 
with either the cradle roll room or the primary rooms; and 
the doors connecting the beginners’ rooms with one another 
should be single hinged doors. All types of movable parti- 
tions and double doors should be avoided. There needs to 
be a juvenile toilet convenient to the beginners’ rooms. The 
beginners’ rooms should be made attractively homelike. See 
Chapters III and IV. 

Board Room. It is of advantage to have a room that is 
usable for meetings of the church board and for meetings of 
larger committees, as well as for the sessions of an adult 
class. It should be finished and decorated and furnished 
attractively. It should have a long table, comfortable chairs, 
and a rug or earpet. It should have adjacent retiring room 
and toilet, and an outside entrance. A fireplace will be an 
attractive feature. In some buildings, the church office may 
serve as the board room. 

Boiler Room. The boiler room should be built through- 
out of fireproof materials. The ceiling, as well as the walls 
and floor, should be absolutely fireproofed, with automatic 


THIRTY-EIGHT SUGGESTIONS 113 


closing fireproof doors and windows. Most fires in chureh 
buildings start in the furnace room. 

Business Buildings. When a church building is a part 
of a larger, income-produeing building, the same principles 
of planning for the educational portions will apply as in a 
building that is exclusively a church building. Only, care 
will need to be exercised that business considerations shall not 
restrict the school facilities of the church and hamper its 
educational work. In some instances, it is possible to save 
the situation for the church school, in such a building, by 
renting its school-rooms to other schools, for part-time use. 

Cabinets. It is advisable to have built-in, recessed cabinets, 
or closets, in the pastor’s study, in the church office, in the 
board room, and in every assembly-room. Cabinets for books 
and supplies, when thus built in, of same material as the other 
trim, conserve floor-space and look better than when supplied 
independently. 

Chapel. A chapel, considerably smaller than the church 
auditorium, for prayer-meetings, for weddings, for funerals, 
for adult classes and for various other uses, is highly desirable 
in a church building of any considerable size. This room 
should be characterized by simple beauty in its interior pro- 
portions and decorations. In a small building, the largest 
adult class room may serve as a chapel. 

Club Rooms. The various departmental assembly-rooms 
and classrooms, in the educational portions of the church 
building, may serve also as club rooms for various Sunday 
and week-day activities; but, in some structures, it will 
be advisable to provide additional special rooms for such desir- 
able activities as are not practicable in the educational rooms. 

Condition of Bwildings. All church structures should be 
kept in a condition of constant repair. It is possible that paint 


114 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


may be as profitable for church prosperity as prayer. Let 
us have both. Not only is it of the highest importance to 
the self-respect and the reputation of a church that it keep 
the exterior of its church structure in good condition, but 
it is just as necessary to keep the interior of all rooms in 
constant repair and in sanitary condition as it is to maintain 
attractiveness and sanitation in the rooms of a good home. 
Anything that is worth having requires constant attention 
and care. 

Corridors. The corridors, or halls, should be straight where 
practicable, with outside windows, and should be so located 
and of such width as to assist natural ventilation and to 
provide ready access to stairways and easy, rapid circulation 
between the various portions of the building. Trim and 
finish and tinting of walls should be in attractive harmony 
with controlling color scheme. Main halls may be beautified 
with pictures, busts, friezes, and the like. Adequate corri- 
dors contribute materially to the attractiveness and useful- 
ness of the building. 

Cradle Roll. There should be a cradle roll room, near the 
beginners’ rooms, but wholly separated from them, for the 
meetings of the cradle roll class, and to be used as a nursery 
during preaching services. It should be suitably finished 
and furnished, and should have a kitchenette and a juvenile 
toilet adjacent. See Chapters III and IV. 

Drinking Fountains. ‘Bubbling fountains, the apparatus 
of which prevents the users from touching mouth or lips to 
the metal, should be provided in reasonable numbers. The 
standard of one fountain for each seventy-five to one hundred 
children should be observed in the sehool. Fountains are 
preferably wall-attached and placed at varied heights. Lo. 
eated in corridors of community house and _ school-house. 


THIRTY-EIGHT SUGGESTIONS 115 


Easy of access to classrooms, play-rooms, gymnasium, play- 
ground, and to dressing rooms of stage.’ 

Entrances. It is essential that adequate main and second- 
ary entrances should be provided in the church structure. 





CRADLE ROLL ROOM, LAFAYETTE AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH, 
BUFFALO, NEW YORI 


There should be main entrances to the chureh auditorium, 
the school building, and the fellowship hall; a separate en- 
trance also, if necessary, leading to the chapel or prayer- 
meeting room, the ladies’ parlor, the pastor’s study and chureh 
offices; a separate entrance for the little children; and an 


116 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


outsidé entrance to the heating room. Entrances should 
have as few steps as possible. Inclines may be used instead 
of steps where possibie. All entrances should be free from 
outside obstructions. Doors should open outward, and should 
be provided with panic bolts, checks, and foot-stops. A porte 
cochére, or covered driveway, for automobiles, at an entrance, 
is a desirable feature. 
Haxits. In addition to the entrances, all of which may be 
used as exits, of course, each inclosed fireproof stairway should 
have its separate exit, with doors opening outward. Fire 
escapes should be provided as needed and as required by law. 
Floors. All floors should be so constructed as to be sound- 
proof and eold-proof. For finish flooring, oak is the most 
durable, and the most pleasing in appearanee, since it adapts 
itself to almost any color scheme. Maple is satisfactory, and 
usually less expensive than oak. Douglas fir (Oregon pine) 
in the West and yellow pine in the East and South are 
used extensively. Edge-grain yellow pine is an ideal class- 
room floor. Wooden floors should not be serubbed, as the 
water causes them to swell and shrink. Unless carpeted 
the floors should be oiled with a good grade of floor oil, 
in order to preserve the finish of the surface and to keep the 
dust from rising. There are some who recommend that the 
floors in the school building be of cement or concrete, cov- 
ered with a lining on which is laid battleship linoleum or ear- 
pet; but such floors are expensive. All floors in the educa- 
tional portions of the church building should be carpeted, and 
kept in sanitary condition through the use of a vacuum cleaner. 
Foundations. Foundations should go below frost line and 
deep enough to secure firm support for the walls, piers, or 
tower, in order to prevent settling. They should be preferably 
of concrete, reinforced where necessary, or of other masonry 


Vahey 


THIRTY-EIGHT SUGGESTIONS 





VA 


CHARLOTTESVILLE, 


SOUTH, 


CHURCH, 


FIRST M. E 


FOYER, 


118 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


with footing of proper spread. Foundations inclosing base- 
ment should be made water-proof and damp-proof. 

Foyer. The foyer, or narthex, or vestibule, should be lo- 
cated at the main entrance, and should be large enough to 
permit exchange of greetings on the way in and out from 
meetings, and the distribution of the people to different parts 
of the building without confusion. The foyer should be 
equipped with door-mats, umbrella-racks, and, in some eases, 
with check-rooms for outer wraps. See Chapter VI. 

Juniors. The smallest Junior department needs to have a 
room wholly separated from all other rooms. A department 
with more than fifteen pupils will need at least two rooms. 
For other sizes, as follows: Thirty pupils, assembly-room 
and three classrooms; sixty pupils, assembly-room and _ six 
classrooms; hundred and twenty pupils, assembly-room and 
twelve classrooms; larger departments, in proportion. See 
Chapters III and IV. 

Kitchenettes. In addition to the main kitchen, it is ad- 
visable, in a building of considerable size, to provide kitchen- 
ettes in connection with the ladies’ parlor and some of the 
school assembly-rooms, equipping each with a two-burner gas 
plate, sink with hot and cold water, stool, cabinet for dishes, 
cutlery, dishes, and cooking utensils. 

Leadership Training Room. For the use of a training class, 
for the training of the future teachers and superintendents 
of the school of the church, and of the other leaders, there 
should be a room located near the senior and the young 
people’s assembly-rooms, and large enough to admit of the 
holding of teaching demonstrations with classes called in from 
the various departments of the school. 

Iibrary. There should be at least one library room in 
every church building, with space for a wide and wise selec- 


THIRTY-EIGHT SUGGESTIONS EEO 


tion of books for both the workers and the pupils, and also 
for maps, curios, mission materials, costumes for dramatiza- 
tions, and the like. Sometimes a geography and map-making 
room is advisable. In a larger plant, it may be advisable 
also to have a reading room, provided it be constantly and 
properly supervised. 

Offices. In every church building, there will need to be 
one or more offices. The chureh office or offices should ac- 
commodate the pastor ; the church secretary ; the general secre- 
tary of the church school; the director of religious education, 
or general superintendent; and any other church workers 
that need such provision. It is imperative that the church 
of today, with its enlarged program, shall have adequate 
administrative rooms. 

Organ. In planning the church auditorium, suitable, am- 
ple space should be provided for the organ. Preferably an 
organ should not be placed immediately over a_ baptistry, 
or directly over any heating apparatus, or on a floor not venti- 
lated beneath. Organ pipes in part or in whole may be kept 
out of sight. 

Parking Spaces. It is always advisable, where at all pos- 
sible, to provide adequate spaces in connection with the church 
building, for the parking of automobiles. 

Partitions. Partitions between rooms in the church-school 
building should be of permanent construction, plastered and 
sound-procf. Any partitions that lft, roll, fold, or slide 
are wholly undesirable, because they provide only partial 
separation; they are unsightly and interfere with attractive 
room-furnishings and wall-decorations; they are more ex- 
pensive than plastered partitions; their manipulation is dif- 
ficult and sometimes impossible; their moving is detrimental 
to order and reverence; their benefits are imaginary; and 


120 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


they are unnecessary when the church building is properly 
planned. 

Pastor’s Study. In most churches, there should be a pas- 
tor’s study, though some pastors prefer to study at home. 
The pastor’s study should be separated from the business 





PASTOR’S STUDY AND BOARD ROOM 


office of the church. Its requisites are quiet, seclusion, and 
cheerful comfort. It should be furnished attractively, and 
equipped with comfortable chairs, desk, book-cases, built-in 
cabinets, coat-room, and with toilet and lavatory. 

Placement. Buildings should be so placed on the church 
lot as to secure the best lighting, the maximum of aesthetic 
results, the greatest possible utilization of grounds, and with a 
view to future additions. 

Primary Department. The smallest primary department 
needs to have a room wholly separated from all other rooms. 


THIRTY-EIGHT SUGGESTIONS 121 


A department with more than fifteen pupils will need at least 
two rooms. For other sizes, as follows: Thirty pupils, as- 
sembly-room and three classrooms; sixty pupils, assembly- 
room and six classrooms; hundred and twenty pupils, 
assembly-room and twelve classrooms; larger departments, in 
proportion. See Chapters III and IV. 

Remodeling. So far as provision for religious edueation is 
involved in any remodeling, the principles already discussed 
will apply. In tearing down and rebuilding a part of an old 
building, particularly if it is of solid stone construction, the 
expense involved is rarely warranted by the results. Usually 
the best remodeling is accomplished through the erection of 
a new unit. This unit may consist of a wing at one end of 
the auditorium. In such new units, all movable partitions 
should be avoided. Occasionally, an ‘‘ Akron plan’’ Sunday- 
school room with part-rooms around it, may be remodeled to 
advantage. If the ceiling is twenty-two or more, feet high, 
a second floor may be built in, by extending the gallery floors, 
with division into assembly-rooms and _ elassrooms, with 
permanent partitions and single hinged doors. Occasionally, 
an auditorium that is too large for regular use may be sub- 
divided, by means of permanent partitions, and some school- 
rooms be thus secured. Rarely, as a last resort, a basement 
room may be subdivided into school-rooms. 

Rooms. The school of the church needs rooms, and not a 
room, which it has already in the church auditorium, Rooms 
needed are as follows: For very small school, at least nine 
rooms; for school of about three hundred, at least twenty 
rooms; for school of about six hundred, at least forty rooms; 
for school of about twelve hundred, at least seventy-five 
rooms; and for a school of two thousand or more, at least one 
hundred rooms. All school-rooms should be of permanent- 


122 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


partition, single hinged-door construction, and should be 
suitably and attractively furnished. See Chapters III and IV. 








A CONNECTICUT RURAL CHURCH 


Site. A chureh plant should be located as nearly in the 
center of its constituency as is possible, in the direction of the 
city’s growth, or toward town if in the country. It should 
be in the midst of attractive, healthful surroundings, away 
from distracting noises, and at a distance from competing 


THIRTY-EIGHT SUGGESTIONS 123 
churches. It should be on a corner lot, if possible, or at 
the head of an intersecting street, and on an elevation. 
The church lot should be large enough to allow for the 
proper placing of buildings, and to permit of future addi- 
tions to take care of growth, and, except in a downtown lo- 
cation, to make possible lawns with shrubbery and trees. 

Smali Schools. Some of the small rural and_ village 
churches have departmentalized their schools, and adopted 
graded lessons, and erected educational and recreational 
buildings. In a very’ small school, with an attendance of 
about seventy-five, the needs will be met if there is erected, 
in addition to the church auditorium, a two-story building, 
with a fellowship hall on one floor and seven or eight small 
school-rooms on the other. There may be a fifteen-minute 
eeneral assembly in the church auditorium, with all depart- 
ments present, except the cradle roll, the beginners’, and the 
primary departments, but most of the work of the school will 
be done departmentally, in the smaller rooms. Such an 
arrangement would be infinitely better than that which pre- 
vails in so many small schools, where all meet together for a 
noisy, fifty-minute, ungraded, ununified period of ‘‘opening 
exercises,’’ with fifteen minutes of teaching in the midst of 
a hubbub of voices, and then ‘‘closing exercises.’’ See Chap- 
ters III and IV. 

Stairways. The stairways in a church building should 
not only be of such number and character as to provide ready 
and quick circulation, but should be built with a view to 
possible panic, and should conform in every detail to the 
requirements of the state and city laws. They should 
be of fireproof construction, where possible, should vary in 
width with the width of the corridors, and should have hand- 
rails strongly constructed and firmly secured. Single steps 


124 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


are exceedingly dangerous. Even two or three incidental 
steps should be avoided. Ramps should take the place of 
steps where practicable. 

Storage. In every church building, there should be pro- 
vided ample storage facilities, properly distributed as to 
location, according to requirements. Storage closets under 
stairs are a fire hazard, and against the law in some localities. 

Vestibules. These should be of ample size, well lighted, 
with water-proof floor, and with doors opening out. See 
Chapter VI. 


SUMMARY OF SUGGESTIONS 


The thirty-eight topics touched on in this chapter and the larger 
number treated in the preceding chapters are indicative of the 
multiplicity of factors that must have consideration in the plan- 
ning of a modern church building, and must make it evident that 
there cannot be sufficient wisdom in any local church organization 
to solve adequately so complex and difficult a problem without the 
assistance of expert advisers. 

The planning of a church educational building of even modest 
proportions requires professional study and expert, distinctive 
handling if the church’s money is to be expended wisely and its 
needs met adequately. Ready-made stock plans are worse than 
useless, except when they are studied merely as suggestive embodi- 
ments of principles. 

The progressive pastor realizes that he is a general practitioner 
in the cure of souls, and he does not regard it as any reflection 
on his abilities, or on those of. his local architect, when he advises 
his church to employ specialists as advisers, any more than a 
reputable family physician does when he advises the calling in of 
a specialist for a patient. 

A church usually can get what it wants in the way of material 
equipment if it knows what it wants and why it wants it, and will 
go after it with faith in itself, in its community, and in God; and 
with genuine Christian intelligence. 


CHAPTER XI 
ILLUSTRATIVE PLANS 


HE floor plans of church-school buildings, with some 
exteriors, shown herewith, have been selected because 
of their illustrative value and their representative character. 
Most of these buildings are already in use, and the others 
are in process of construction. Not all of the plans shown are 
to be commended in all respects, but, for the most part, they 
are expressive of the most expert thinking and the best ex- 
perience. 

It is not supposed that any plan here shown will be copied 
and used, since every new building problem is different from 
all others in some respects, and requires individual, expert 
study and distinctive handling. 

No one of these buildings here illustrated is to be regarded 
as being even ‘‘typical.’’ Each of these buildings is simply 
an honest, intelligent effort to solve an individual church 
building problem, on the basis of a study of all the factors 
involved and the determination of a program. 

In all these educational buildings, the same principles of 
program making and of architectural planning have been 
followed. Effort has been made to provide an assembly- 
room for each department and a class-room for each class 
of permanent, plastered-partitions, and single hinged-door 
type of construction; and care has been exercised to provide, 
in each building, a fellowship hall, kitchen, administrative 
offices, coat-rooms, cabinets, toilets, corridors, stairways, and 


other facilities in such a way as to meet real school needs, 
125 


126 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


with a proper relating of one portion of the building to the 
others and a harmonious, attractive unifying of the whole 
church structure. 

These plans are illustrative of the principles of good plan- 
ning for religious education, and are to be studied as such. 
**Stock plans’’ are worse than useless and are dear at any 
price. Churches contemplating the building of new edu- 
cational structures should confer with the religious edu- 
cational and church board architectural specialists. 





128 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


First PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
at 
BLOOMFIELD, N. J. 


On two floors of the new building, facilities are provided 
for 800 pupils in seven departments, exclusive of adults, 
which are cared for in the old parish house, not shown on 
these plans. 

On the main floor, provision is made for 25 eradle roll 
pupils, about 3 years of age; for 125 beginners, about 4 and 
5 years of age; for 175 primary pupils, about 6 to 8 years 
of age; and for 50 young people, about 18 to 23 years of age. 
There are provided also, on this floor, 3 classrooms for 
seniors; offices for pastor, secretaries, and choir; kitchen 
facilities; cabinets for supplies; coat-rooms; and toilets. 

On the second floor, provision is made for 150 juniors, 
about 9 to 11 years of age; for 175 intermediates, about 12 
to 14 years of age; and for 125 seniors, about 15 to 17 years 
of age. Also, there are, on this floor, cabinets, coat-rooms, 
toilets, and a map-room. Exceptional local conditions account 
for the unusual departmental proportions. 

On the basement floor, provision is made for the following: 
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts; bowling alley; lockers, showers, 
and toilets; boiler and coal. 

The large room at the rear of the church auditorium now 
becomes the fellowship hall, instead of being used for many 
Sunday-school classes, as heretofore. 

Note the double entrances, the direct corridors, and the 
provisions for outside lighting and natural ventilation. All 
rooms are of permanent, plastered partitions and single 
hinged-door construction. Consulting adviser, Henry E. 
Tralle; architects, Ludlow and Peabody. 











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134 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


First CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 
at 
MONTCLAIR, N. J. 


The view on the opposite page is from a recent photograph, 
and shows the old building with the new ehureh-sechool build- 
ing, which is a fireproof, all-stone structure in harmony with 
the old, the whole appearing as if it had been erected at one 
time. 

On the first floor of the addition, there are assembly-rooms 
and classrooms for the beginners’ and primary departments, 
and also a library and offices for superintendents and secre- 
taries. 

On the seeond flocr, there is an assembly-room which seats 
250 pupils, and 13 individual classrooms. On both floors, 
there are coat-room and lavatory provisions. On the ground 
floor, not shcwn here, there is an assembly and recreation 
room, seating 400, with direct connection with the dining 
room in the old building. Portions of the school are cared 
for in the old building. 

All the school-rooms are of the permanent partitions, single 
hinged-door type of construction, and the new educational 
building embodies, in its various facilities, the newer ideals. 

This is one of the great churches in the Kast, located in a 
most desirable surburban community, and its expenditure of 
$250,000 for additional educational facilities ought to be a 
wholesome incentive to other large, strong churches. 

Architects, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue Associates, 




















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138 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


First Baptist CHuRCH 
at 
RICHMOND, VA. 


The five floor plans here shown are indicative of the vision 
and faith and enterprise of one of the great historic churches 
of the South, in covering practically a whole city block, in 
a high-class residential section, with a great church structure 
that is modern in every particular. 

The main auditorium will seat about 2200, and the edu- 
cational portions of the building will accommodate a school 
of about the same size. 

Provision is made for the seven departments of the school 
of the church as follows: Cradle roll, about 1, 2 and 8 yrs. 
of age, two rooms, for 130 children; beginners, 4 and 5 yrs., 
two rooms, for 130 children; primary, 6 to 8 yrs., assenibly- 
room and 18 classrooms, for 180 punils; junior, 9 to 11 yrs., 
assembly-rocm and 18 classrooms, for 180 pupils; intermedi- 
ate, 12 to 14 yrs., assembly-room and 18 classrooms, for 180 
pupils; senior, 15 to 17 yrs., assembly-room and 8 classrooms 
of varied sizes, for 210 pupils; young people, 18 to 25 yrs., 
assembly-room and 9 classrooms of varied sizes, for 320 
students; adult, 26 yrs. and older, secondary auditorium, an 
assembly-room and 13 classrooms of varied sizes, on three 
ficors, for about 1000 students. 

In addition to main auditorium and secondary auditorium, 
and the departmental assembly-rooms, there is a chapel and 
a fellowship hall. One whole floor is devoted to recreational 
facilities. There are adequate administrative offices, coat- 
rooms, corridors, stairways, toilets, and other needed facilities. 

All school-rooms are of permanent, plastered partitions and 
single hinged-door construction. Consulting architect, Joseph 
Tludnut; operating architect, H. L. Cain. 


ILLUSTRATIVE PLANS Lo. 


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144 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Broapway Mertruopist EpiscopaL CHURCH 
at 
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. 


The perspective and three floor plans here shown are il- 
lustrative of how an enterprising church may, with the as- 
sistanee of the denominational bureau of architecture, make 
a survey of the community, move to a new and better site, 
and construct a building that is churchly in appearance and 
that will house adequately a modern church program. 

The chureh auditorium will seat approximately 1500, and 
the school portions of the building will care for about the 
same number. There is an attractive chapel, a good-sized 
eymnasium, and a large parish hall. There are ample ad- 
ministrative offices; dining and kitchen facilities; lbrary; 
choir-room; club-room; and toilet provisions. 

Every department of the church school has its own separ- 
ate assembly-room, for a graded worship period; and every 
class has its own separate classroom, for uninterrupted class- 
work. All assembly-rooms and all classrooms are of the 
permanent, plastered partitions and single hinged-door type 
of construction advocated in this book. 

All the rooms in the building are outside rooms, with good 
light and ventilation. 

Consulting architects, Methodist Episcopal Bureau of 
Architecture; operating architect, Herbert Foltz. 


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150 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


First Metuopist Episcopan CHURCH, SOUTH 
at 
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. 


The exterior, from a recent photograph, and the three floor 
plans shown herewith furnish an example of a distinctive, 
adequate handling, in adaptation to the size and shape of the 
lot and the environment. This building is immediately ad- 
joining the grounds of the University of Virginia. There is 
an attractive open court effect. 

All rooms are outside rooms, with good light and natural 
ventilation. The building is attractive in its interior finish 
as well as in its exterior appearance. 

On the basement floor, not shown here, are to be found 
social and recreational provisions, a board room, and other 
facilities. 

On the first floor, there are provisions for the elementary 
departments, with separate small classrooms for the primary 
department. There are also, on this floor, administrative 
offices, adult classrooms, and a students’ club room. 

On the second floor there is a chapel; a parlor, with kitchen ; 
a pastor’s study; and a senior assembly-room, with seven 
classrooms. 

On the third floor, there are assembly-rooms and classrooms 
for the junior, intermediate, and young people’s depart- 
ments. 

All these school-rooms are of permanent, plastered parti- 
tions and single hinged-door construction; and the building 
embodies in its various provisions the most expert experience. 
There are adequate corridors, coat-rooms, stairways, toilets, 
and other needed facilities. Architect, Joseph Hudnut. 





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156 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH 
at 
HARTFORD, CONN. 


The photograph of exterior and four floor plans which 
follow are illustrative of how a downtown church of influence 
can build a house of compact construction, fitted to a lot 
of irregular shape and restricted area. 

On the basement floor, there is a large dining room, with 
kitchen and serving room; a gymnasium and bowling alleys, 
robing rooms; boiler room; storage and other facilities. 

On the first floor, there is the main auditorium, seating 
1200 or more; a lecture room; a men’s club room; a ladies’ 
parlor; and administrative offices. On the second floor, there 
are the janitor’s quarters; cradle roll and beginners’ rooms: 
a primary assembly-room and eight classrooms, for 120 pupils; 
four young people’s classrooms and club rooms; closets and 
cabinets; coat-rooms; Sunday-school offices; and toilets. 

On the third floor, there is a junior assembly-room and 
eight classrooms, for 120 pupils; an intermediate assembly- 
room and eight classrooms, for 120 pupils; a senior assembly- 
room and nine classrooms, for 135 students; coat-rooms ; 
closets and cabinets; a teacher-training room; and other facili- 
ties. 

Consulting architects, Northern Baptist Convention De- 
partment of Architecture; operating architect, Isaac A. 


Allen, Jr. 

















158 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


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162 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


TRINITY EPIscopAL CHURCH 
at 
COLUMBUS, GA. 


The three floor plans shown herewith are of a ‘‘parish 
house annex,’’ and the perspective, from the architect’s draw- 
ing, shows the appearance of the entire church structure. 

This is an example of how a modern educational and re- 
ereational building may be beautifully handled in harmony 
with a Gothic church auditorium, and with an attractive open 
court effect. 

On the first floor, there is a chapel, seating 75; a beginners’ 
room, accommodating 70 children; a primary assembly-room 
and five classrooms, for 85 children; a cradle roll room; a 
pastor’s study; administrative offices; and toilets. 

On the second floor, there is an assembly-room and seven 
classrooms for 85 juniors; an assembly-room and five elass- 
rooms for 60 seniors; an adult classroom seating 100; a 
ladies’ rest room; a secretary’s room; and toilet and storage 
facilities. 

On the basement floor, there is a social hall, seating 250; 
a kitchen and serving room; and provision for Boy Seouts, 
janitor, furnace and coal, closets, dressing rooms, and toilets. 

Portions of the church school are eared for in the old 
building. All school-rooms are of the permanent, plastered 
partitions and single hinged-door type of construction. 
Architect, T. F. Lockwood. 

















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168 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


MetuHopist EpiscopaAL CHURCH 
at 
WOODSIDE, MD. 


In the perspective and the two floor plans which are here 
presented, we have an illustration of an economical remodel- 
ing and addition in a village community. 

On the main floor, there are provisions for a nursery; a 
beginners’ department; a primary department; a junior de- 
partment; an intermediate department; a woman’s room 
and library; administrative offices; closets; and toilets. 

On the second floor, there is a parish hall with stage and 
kitchen, and provisions for a senior department. 

There are no movable partitions in this building, all par- 
titions being plastered partitions, and the doors being single 
hinged doors. Architects, Methodist Episcopal Bureau of 
Architecture. 





BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


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172) BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


First Baptist CHURCH 
at 
COLUMBUS, GA. 


This great Southern church was fortunate in having an 
abundance of lot-space on which to erect its ‘‘Sunday School 
Annex,’’ which was built around a large open court at the 
rear of the church auditorium, and was designed in pure 
Grecian style to harmonize with the old building. A covered 
loggia with a clay tile floor extends around the inside court, 
connecting all departments. The court is planted with shrub- 
bery and flowers, and is a novel and attractive feature of the 
scheme. 

This edueational annex provides for approximately 1400 
pupils, in seventy rooms. The primary department, with its 
144 pupils about 6 to 8 years of age, has an assembly-room 
and twelve classrooms, every room having permanent, plas- 
tered partitions and a single hinged door. The junior de- 
partment, with 144 pupils, about 9 to 11 years of age, has 
the same number and type of rooms. So with the inter- 
mediate department, pupils about 12 to 14 years of age. The 
senior and young people’s departments are similarly pro- 
vided for, except that the classrooms are larger and of varied 
sizes. The cradle roll and beginners’ departments are ad- 
equately cared for. 

All rooms are outside rooms, and every assembly-room ex- 
cept one has more than one outside exposure. The recrea- 
tional and other facilities are excellent. 

Consulting architect, Joseph Hudnut; operating architect, 
T. F. Lockwood. 


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176 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Sr. Jouns M. HE. Cuurcu, SoutH 
at 
ROCK HILL, Ss. C. 


The photograph of exterior and three floor plans which fol- 
low are illustrative of a distinctive and satisfactory handling 
of a church-building problem in a college town. 

On the ground floor, there is a social room and dressing 
rooms and kitchen; a men’s classroom; boiler and coal and 
storage rooms; cradle roll and beginners’ rooms; a primary 
assembly-room and six classrooms; two adult classrooms; 
coat-rooms and toilets. 

On the first floor, there is the church auditorium; a junior 
assembly-room and six classrooms; a senior assembly-room 
and three classrooms; a pastor’s study and administrative 
offices; a ladies’ parlor; a young people’s classroom; coat- 
rooms and toilets. 

On the second floor, there is an assembly-room and _ six 
classrooms for intermediates; eight classrooms for seniors and 
young people; a kitchen; coat-rooms; and closets. 

There are suitable corridor and_ stairway provisions 
throughout. All the rooms are of the permanent, plastered 
partitions and single hinged-door type of construction. All 
rooms are outside rooms. Architects, Casey and Fant. 


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BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


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182 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


BUNCOMBE STREET M. E. CHurcH, SoutH 
at 
GREENVILLE, §. C. 


The three flcor plans which follow are illustrative of how 
educational facilities may be secured in an addition to an old 
building, with provision for an abundance of outside light in 
every room, and free circulation of air. 

On the first floor, there are administrative offices; two be- 
einners’ rooms, for 100 children; a cradle roll room, for 55 
children; a parlor, to accommodate 150, with kitchenette: a 
mothers’ room, seating 48; a primary assembly-room and 
twelve classrooms, accommodating 132 children; and coat- 
rooms, closets, and toilets. 

On the second floor, there is an assembly-room and twelve 
classrooms, for 132 juniors; an intermediate assembly-room 
and eight classrooms, for 132 intermediates; a senior assembly- 
room and eight elassrooms, for 132 students; two adult 
classrooms; and coat-rooms, cabinets, and toilets. 

On the third ficor, there is an assembly-room and two elass- 
rooms, for the accommodation of 263 young people. On the 
ground floor, there is a men’s Bible classroom, seating 211; 
a choir room; kitchen and serving room; and other facilities. 
There are direct corridor provisions, with suitable stairway 
and fire-escape facilities. 

There are no movable partitions in this building, all parti- 
tions being of plastered type, and all doors being single and 
hinged. 

Architects, Architectural Department of M. E. Church, 


South. 


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186 BUILDING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


RIVERMONT AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
at 
LYNCHBURG, VA. 


The illustrations on the opposite page are of a distinetive 
handling, with an open court effect. 

On the main floor, there are: the church auditorium; the 
social room and kitchen; a beginners’ room; a_ primary 
assembly-room and classrooms; choir rooms; ladies’ parlor; 
administrative offices; and adequate corridor and toilet facili- 
ties. 

On the second floor, there is an assembly-room and elass- 
rooms for the Juniors; an assembly-room and classrooms for 
the intermediates ; a college girls’ room; and a pastor’s study. 
There are other provisions not shown here. Consulting archi- 
tect, Joseph Hudnut; operating architects, Craighill and 
Cardwell. 








































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